Marking the 18th anniversary of its designation as a provincial historic resource, the Rossdale Power Plant will be illuminated with a new permanent light display.

The $200,000 lighting installation "highlights the architecture and history of the structure" and the start of the River Crossing area's revitalization, the City of Edmonton said in a news release Thursday.

The lights will be turned on for the first time at 7:03 p.m. Thursday. The time was chosen because that's when it will be fully dark, a city spokesperson said. The lights will be programmed to be on between dusk and dawn throughout the year.

The display includes 35 light stands in the building's mezzanine floor windows and 28 lights on the smoke stacks.

"This is a major historic asset that we want to restore, we want to use, we need to make it active, we need to make it look vibrant, and this was an inexpensive and quick way that we could get something happening on a building that also we'd like to see an even more active use over time," Ward 8 Coun. Ben Henderson said Thursday at city hall.

"It will take something right now that's a big blank building, and actually make it an asset, it will give it a sense of life and activity at nighttime in a part of the city where a lot of people go," he said. "It's one of our iconic views, especially with the bridge there now."

In the news release, Erik Backstrom, senior planner, planning initiatives, said the power plant "will be a key spark to bring new life to the area through the River Crossing initiative."

Funding for the lighting project came from two sources: $180,000 from a $3.2-million power plant stabilization project, and $20,000 from a city pilot program to light up heritage buildings, part of the WinterCity strategy.

"One of the really key pieces in the WinterCity strategy was understanding what our city looks like at night," Henderson said. "Given we spend a lot of time in darkness in wintertime, it's really critical."

The power plant was built in phases between the 1930s and 1950s, and decommissioned in 2011-12.

Three buildings at the power plant were designated provincial historic resources on Oct. 17, 2001, after efforts made by the Rossdale community league and ConCerv, a group that advocated for the plant to be preserved.