Today's Most Popular Video
Oct 20, 2009 10:54 pm US/Central
Good Question: Why Are The Target Field Lights On?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
It's months from the first pitch, but the lights at Target Field have been burning all day, and almost all last week. Why are the lights on?
"My mother would yell at me for leaving one light on much less several hundred, who pays the electric bill and why are the lights left on?" e-mailed David Schouweiler, from Minneapolis.
Indeed, 746 lighting fixtures are aimed at the field, 632 of them are required for lighting the game, the rest are for housekeeping after the game is over.
"This is the continuing of the testing process for all these lights," said Minnesota Twins Executive Vice-President for Public Affairs.
The team is doing what's called, "burn-in." When you get hundreds of new lights, they start at different colors, and different brightness levels.
"Really what [burn-in] does is flatten down the brilliance of them, because they're so hot when they come out of the factory," said Smith.
The Twins are seeking LEED certification, attempting to make Target Field a "green stadium." But according to Smith, there's really no way around this process.
The stadium will use environmentally friendly carpets, paints, heating and ventilation systems.
According to the Minnesota Ballpark Authority, "Target Field already has several factors working in its favor toward earning LEED certification. They include: rehabilitating an underutilized site, using local building materials and choosing a location with access to public transit."
Burning-in stadium lights is a standard procedure. According to the University of Minnesota, TCF Bank Stadium underwent a similar process before the start of the first football season there.
It's not that different from what happens at tanning salons, where new bulbs in a tanning bed have a tendency to burn customers, because the bulbs are so hot from the factory.
At Target Field, the lights have to run 200 hours to cool to the right brightness.
Major League Baseball sets standards for brightness.
According to Larry Heinsch, with Gephart Electric, the lighting contractor for Target Field, the average infield brightness has to be 335 foot-candles. The outfield must be at 279 foot-candles, midfield is 307 foot-candles, and the pitcher's zone (from the mound to home plate) is the brightest at 350 foot-candles.
By comparison, "the average office light is 50 to 60 foot-candles at the desk," said Heinsch. That makes the lighting on the field about 6 times brighter than your typical office lighting.
Why?
"It's for the television broadcast," said Heinsch. The TV cameras need the bright lights, in order for it to look good.
"They did this very same thing with Xcel energy center in St. Paul. Because it was inside, there was no public display about it. I promise by end of next week we'll be ready to go," said Smith.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Monster Truck Death Caught On Tape
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
