Beaver Dam Family Center Ice Arena Awarded Free Ephesus LED Sports Lighting System

SOURCES: American Hockey League, Eaton's Ephesus Lighting

SPRINGFIELD, MA., MARCH 28, 2018 … At a ceremony today in Beaver Dam, WI, the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL)and power management company Eaton announced that Beaver Dam Family Center Ice Arena is the winner of the Ephesus Light Like the Pros promotion and will receive a free Ephesus LED sports lighting system valued at more than $50,000.

The Beaver Dam Family Center Ice Arena, home to the Beaver Dam Hockey Association and Swan City Ice Skaters, is a Non-Profit 501(c)(3) volunteer organization operated by the dedication, hard work, and commitment of families participating in the programs. The facility was made possible, more than 35 years ago, by the dream of area residents who embarked on a capital fundraising campaign and took out second mortgages on their homes to finance the construction of the building and institutionalize youth skating programs for the community.

“We want to thank Eaton and the American Hockey League for supporting community skating rinks and the thousands of members of our community who voted over the past two months to help make this possible,” said Beaver Dam Hockey Association board member Nicole Lont, who helped mobilize the community for the contest.  “The success of this facility has always been because of the people who have given selflessly for the benefit of others, so it’s fitting that they were also the driving force in earning us this state-of-the-art Ephesus LED sports lighting system for the benefit and enjoyment of the entire community.”

At the start of the 2017-18 AHL season, ice skating rink owners, coaches, and even hockey moms and dads across North America nominated rinks in the Ephesus Light Like the Pros promotion by sharing why their rink is deserving of a state-of-the-art LED lighting retrofit solution.  After a panel of judges selected 33 rinks to advance to the voting stage, three rounds of online voting, in which more than 150,000 votes were cast from January through March, helped determine the winner.

The four other rinks joining the Beaver Dam Family Center Ice Arena as finalists and their local AHL team were:  Sunbury Ice Skating Rink & Community Center, Sunbury, PA (Hershey Bears); Oak Park Ice Arena, Stockton, CA (Stockton Heat);Clinton Arena/Edward Stanley Recreation Center, Clinton, NY (Utica Comets); and Riverview Ice House, Rockford, IL (Rockford IceHogs).

“The widespread community engagement that the Beaver Dam Family Center Ice Arena demonstrated in this contest is representative of the type of spirit and community support that skating rinks enjoy in many of our AHL communities,” said Christos Nikolis, executive vice president, Marketing and Business Development for the AHL. “We are confident that a state-of-the-art Ephesus LED sports lighting and control systems similar to those installed at eight AHL arenas will enhance their facility for the benefit of their players, coaches and spectators.”

After the refrigeration system, lighting is typically an ice rink’s largest electricity consumer as a typical ice rink uses its lights for more than 6,500 hours annually. Metal-halide lighting systems, which are currently installed at most skating rinks, generate heat that must then be removed from the building by the ice refrigeration system. In contrast, energy-efficient LED lights use less energy, generate less heat and help reduce the load on the rink’s ice plant refrigeration system. An ice rink that makes the switch to LED can typically expect a 70 percent reduction in energy use, as well as a near-elimination of maintenance costs.

“Our Ephesus LED sports lighting solution is well-known for illuminating some of the most famous sports venues in the world, including more than a dozen AHL and NHL arenas. What many people don’t realize is that LED sports lighting is now a reality for fields, arenas and ice skating rinks of all sizes,” said Mike Lorenz, president, Eaton’s Ephesus Lighting business. “We hope that by rewarding the Beaver Dam Family Center Ice Arena with this state-of-the-art LED lighting system, we’ll also communicate to hockey rinks across North America that LED lighting is within their reach.”

Eaton’s Ephesus light-emitting diode sports lighting product line provides optimallighting that illuminates more uniformly on the playing surface and offers an improved stage for players and fans. The system is easy to install, requires little to no maintenance for years and offers the lowest total operating costs compared to other traditional sports lighting systems. 

Hundreds of sports facilities of all sizes have made the switch to Eaton’s LED sports lighting system. Some of the most prominent include: University of Phoenix Stadium (Arizona Cardinals); Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Dolphins); PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates); Bridgestone Arena (Nashville Predators); and the historic Martinsville Speedway in Virginia – the first NASCAR track with LED lighting.  

For more information, or to nominate a rink, visit LightLikeThePros.com.  The official rules are available at LightLikeThePros.com/About.

Eaton is a power management company with 2017 sales of $20.4 billion. We provide energy-efficient solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power more efficiently, safely and sustainably. Eaton is dedicated to improving the quality of life and the environment through the use of power management technologies and services. Eaton has approximately 96,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countries. For more information, visit Eaton.com.

The American Hockey League

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League (@TheAHL) continues to serve as the top development league for all 31 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers. Every year, more than 6 million fans attend AHL games across North America.