By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
With a paint project ongoing to give the City Auditorium a fresh look,
the Great Bend Recreation Commission board approved new lighting to be
installed this summer. The auditorium currently has nine, 1,500-watt fixtures
above the gym surface. Great Bend Rec Director Chris Umphres said the lights
take a little longer to turn on and burn through a lot of wattage compared to
new LED lights.
"This gets us candle lights throughout the whole gym at a better rate," said Umphres. "This will eliminate shadows. Not that it's a huge deal, but you will see people play on one specific side over the other because of the way the lights come down. There is a shadow on one side."
Using 24 LED lights, the improvement will use 4,500 watts instead of the
current 13,500 watts.
"The balcony area already has LED lights," said Umphres. "Those are already taken care of. We would just replace over the gymnasium playing surface."
Capital outlay funds will finance the $18,900 LED lights purchase from Musco
Lighting and the $7,000 to $11,000 installation by Hammeke Electric. Umphres
said the plan is to have the new lighting installed this August.
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