A Brighter and Safer Campus
A Brighter and Safer Campus
The campus is brighter thanks to a summer exterior lighting project that will ultimately result in more than 50 new lights and fixtures.
The project is focused in part on safety and security, while other aspects are focused on building accent lighting, says Bob Boyce, director of the physical plant.
"Last fall we spent an evening with some interested students walking the campus after dark to see where we needed to increase the light level to make the campus safer for our students, faculty, staff and guests," says Boyce. "We have invested nearly $75,000 installing additional light poles, lighted bollards and some accent lighting. In addition, we reduced some other light levels to eliminate hot spots and level out our maximum to minimum ratio for lighting."
- Eighteen lights have been installed around the Chapel, including walkway bollards with receptacles, up lights on the steeple and front entrance lights. Accent lights also were added to the Alumni House and Hood, with two pole lights added to the walkway in front of Hood.
- Light poles were added on the walkway from the east entrance of the Swanson Academic Center heading south toward Superior Street.
- Light poles with two fixtures each were added to the Gelston/Mitchell and Mitchell/Bruske parking lots.
- Lights were installed around Tyler-Van Dusen Campus Center at the south entrance and the walkway toward the Chapel.
- New fixtures will be added along the covered walkway on the northeast side of the library leading to McIntyre Mall, while the fixtures on the west side of the library were reduced in brightness.
- Light poles were installed near the softball field along the walkway toward Trower.
"The campus is clearly brighter at night," says Boyce. "Our goal was to eliminate a lot of the dark spots, but we also had situations where some areas were too bright, making nearby areas seem darker. Our goal was the make the campus look like it would on a half-moon night, so that you can identify someone as you walk."
Most of the lighting improvements were funded through the use of the $6 million tax exempt bonds issued in 2005.
Posted: Wed, August 30th, 2006 at 4:08PM
