Five new sets of stadium lights cost Chandler district $2.4M

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

Converting five high school football stadium lights to LED will save some money for the Chandler Unified School District, but one director said it will also provide better lighting and use less electricity than what’s in place today.

The board unanimously approved a $2.4 million contract with Musco Lighting to replace stadium lights at five of the district’s six high schools.

Assistant Superintendent Tom Dunn told the board the lights in place today at Basha, Casteel, Chandler, Hamilton and Perry high school stadiums are metal halide and green series lamps to LED lamps.

The conversion to LED on these stadiums will save the district between 40% and 65% in energy usage, which is about $40,000 annually on CUSD’s maintenance and operations budget.

The conversion also provides better lighting on the fields and provide no glare and darker skies for neighbors, Dunn said.

This is an especially big concern at schools with neighborhoods and arterial streets close to stadiums, such as Chandler High and Arizona College Prep High School.

ACP’s Fred DePrez Stadium already has LED lighting, Dunn said, with the light banks carefully aimed to reduce glare into the neighborhood south of the school and along Gilbert Road to the west.

The price breakdown by school — all of which are configured slightly differently — is similar, which each school priced by Musco between $478,000 and $484,000.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines LED lighting as “light-emitting diodes, in which an electronic component produces light when an electrical current passes through it.”

Board member Ryan Heap asked if the conversion to LED lighting would require any campus or neighborhood special equipment.

Dunn said that if there is a need for such conversion, Musco will handle it, as it’s the company that installed the lights in place at all six schools now.

“Musco is one of the largest sports lighting companies in the country,” Dunn said. “They’ve installed and maintain 90% of the lights at high schools and colleges in the U.S., including ours. So they’d do all that pre-conditioning on what is their own system.”

Dunn added there’s a 25-year parts-and-labor full warranty on the lighting systems. He said 2025 bond funds will be used for the purchase.

Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

INDEPENDENT NEWSMEDIA

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.