An illumination system is provided for an access door may include an elongated illumination housing configured to be coupled to at least one of an upstanding jamb and a corresponding jamb casing extending along the one side of the access door, an elongated light transmissive cover coupled to the illumination housing, an elongated light pipe received within the illumination housing, an illumination source housing operatively coupled to one end of the light pipe, an illumination source disposed within the illumination source housing and configured to produce and transmit visible light into the light pipe so as to be visible through the light transmissive cover, a source of electrical power, and a control unit configured to selectively apply electrical power from the source of electrical power to the illumination source to produce the visible light.