Big lighting upgrade proposed for Hounds home games

Sault Ste. Marie's green committee is recommending a $200,000 lighting upgrade at GFL Memorial Gardens.

The new light-emitting diode (LED) overhead lights will ensure the Gardens fully complies with Canadian Hockey League facility standards and also will allow the city to apply to host National Hockey League games, says Brent Lamming, the city's director of community services.

"If we need to host an NHL game, we'll be in compliance," Lamming told SooToday.

Members of the municipal environmental initiative committee (commonly referred to as the city's 'green' committee) voted Wednesday to ask City Council to approve the project.

In addition to providing better light, the project is expected to pay for itself through energy savings over 15 years.

Madison Zuppa, the city's area co-ordinator for environmental services, said funding assistance is available now through Ontario's Independent Electricity System Operator.

But available money has already been reduced twice since the Ford government assumed power in Ontario and further reductions are expected on Aug. 12, green committee members were told.

"If we don't access it now, there's a possibility that next year it might not be available to us," Zuppa said

Lamming told SooToday that it's getting harder to purchase replacement lamps for the Gardens' existing light system. 

"The type of light that we have in the facility right now, it's getting hard to source that type of lighting," he said.

"It's back from what we originally put in the building in 2006.... We can still source it right now but we're having more challenges sourcing that type of lamp. The new technology is much easier to source."

Lamming said the existing lights can also be awkward to control.

"Sometimes right now we have to override to be able to control the different lights and switches that we have in the building. So this would help with respect to that. We wouldn't have to manually override, if there's a challenge. It would also help with instant dimming, things like that."