Connersville High School
Cree® LED lighting in the Spartan Bowl gym delivered improved light levels and color quality with half the energy use and near zero maintenance for years to come. Now that’s a financial slam dunk.
- Opportunity
- Solution
- Benefit
Connersville High School’s sports teams are the crown jewels of their small, tight-knit community in Connersville, Indiana. On game nights, town residents swarm to the Spartan Bowl − one of the largest gymnasiums in the state − to cheer for their beloved Spartans. Only they couldn’t see the action on the court for minutes at a time.
Lighting in the Spartan Bowl was fraught with obstacles. The existing 26 fixtures − 400-watt metal halide high-bay lights − had grown dim over time, costing the school considerable time, utility and maintenance costs as the fixtures aged. In fact, lighting at the Spartan Bowl neared 30 foot-candles (fc) when they should have been at 70+ fc for varsity basketball. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Turning the lights to full capacity took a full eight minutes, forcing school officials to choreograph athletic events and other ceremonies around this pesky delay. It was a ritual Brent Duncan, athletic director for the Spartans, knew well: “In the past, as soon as we brought the kids out for the pregame activities, we turned the lights down and whipped spotlights around the Bowl, trying to time it just right to allow the lights to cool down and come back up,” says Duncan. “At times, we’ve had to introduce opponents in the dark.” Officials would often stand on the floor, holding the ball, waiting for the lights to come to full brightness.