The University of Wisconsin athletic department is spending roughly $1.6 million to replace the lighting system at Camp Randall Stadium during a timeframe between Saturday's spring commencement ceremony and the start of summer concert tour stops at the stadium.
As reported by The Capital Times, the current lighting system is more than 20 years old and consists of roughly 200 inefficient lights, according to Jason King, UW-Madison’s senior associate athletic director for capital projects and operations. About 185 LED lights comprise the new system, King told the city’s Joint Campus Area Committee, adding, "We’re going to install them with a helicopter.”
Why a helicopter?
“The alternative would have been for us to … close down sections of [North] Breese Terrace for the entire week,” King said of the city street that borders the stadium to the west. “So, this is a much more efficient way for us to do this lighting installation.”
A 100-foot section of North Breese Terrace will still need to be blocked off for about an hour and half, Becky Jacobs of The Capital Times reported.
The helicopter will be employed at the stadium May 16 from about 7 a.m. to noon. The lights will be staged on an adjacent football practice field to the north, where sections will be lifted and lowered by the helicopter into place inside Camp Randall.
The department anticipates saving about $3,800 worth of electricity, or 31,700 kilowatt hours, per year with the new system, Jacobs reported.
