New Lights Poles Installed at Red Rider Stadium

I live for this kind of stuff, in case you hadn't figured it out by now.

Another renovation is taking shape at Red Rider Stadium which seems to be a yearly thing anymore (new bleachers, new track records board, new turf in place of the asphalt on the sidelines, a new scoreboard on the way, brand new field turf).

OK, that last one hasn't happened...yet. But it is nice to see continuous upgrades. The stadium is on the wrong side of 50 years old and upkeep it vital to keeping it looking good.

The latest improvement in process right now is the install of new aluminum light poles and the removal of the old aging wooden ones. Along with it are new light sets which will eliminate dark areas of the field. The project of adding new light poles came in under budget so it was decided to add new light fixtures as well.

I guess a local official once said that our field was one of the poorest lit fields in the area. This project should eliminate that issue.

Let's take a look some photos.....

The holes were drilled last week and concrete piers were poured.  The lights were hung on the poles while they were still on the ground, and then the entire pole/light fixture was set on top of the concrete piers.

As you can see in just about every photo, the new poles sit on the outside of the old ones, and as you can see in this next photo, the new pole is actually closer to the field than the old ones.  I'm sure this wasn't by accident but by design and done to provide the best amount of light coverage across the entire field.

Note the lights that face back (away from the field) on this pole.  This will help light the area around the concession stand.  It's hard to tell from this photo, but each new pole is actually taller than the existing ones...just by a few feet on the two poles on the home side...but it's very obvious on the poles on the visitor side.

That's quite a difference isn't it?  Has to be near a 15-foot difference in height.  Note the difference in the number of lights too.  The old pole has 12 lights, while the new one only has 6.  I'm told that the light output from the new light poles will be very a noticeable improvement over the old ones....as it should be I guess.

Here's the height difference on the home side lights.

One last picture...just an up-close of the light pole near the home side concession stand.  Also note the permanent home of the new track records board in the background.

Call me crazy...and maybe it's already been talked about...but I think the football team should have a night time practice in order to let the players get used to the new lights. You always hear of players "losing the ball in the lights," and these lights will be in different spots and will be much brighter. Wouldn't it make sense to give the receivers and defensive backs time on the field to get used to the lights and the shadows the lights will cast?

Our home field is just that...our home. The kids know it. Getting them on the field will help them get used to the lights and keep our home field advantage just that..and advantage.

Just a thought.

Next time I post pictures from the stadium, it will be of the new scoreboard being installed.