Mercury vapor lighting on softball field at Burbank, California, with 22,400 watts. Note clear light on playing field and lack of spread beyond. Outdoor Recreational Lighting E Consider it an investment, not an expense XTENDED HOURS of use resulting from the lighting of outdoor areas are readily seen as a benefit. Equally important, however, is the benefit gained by providing opportunity and incentive for adult participation at convenient hours. It could almost be said that any unlighted outdoor facility for recreation is but half effective in its service to the community. It could certainly be said that outdoor areas designed and installed without careful evaluation of the extended usehours gained from lighting would be very poor planning indeed. BASIC FACTORS There are three basic elements in deciding on outdoor lighting. First would be the measure of light required to service the activity or activities for which the area is designed; second, the type and quality of installation; and third, the cost of maintenance. In the first instance, one can use the NEMA (National Electric Manufacturers Association) standard or, by comparative measurement of existing installations, by DEWEY R. KRUCKEBERG Superintendent, Parks and Recreational Department Burbank, California set up one's own standard; secondly, the selection of type would be a choice of incandescent or mercury vapor lighting, and quality a matter of wood or steel poles with overhead or underground wiring; and thirdly, the maintenance cost would, obviously, be a matter of calculation after the choice has been established. As to the values of the NEMA standards, there is a question in regard to their adaptability to recreational lighting at the public agency level-mostly from the angle of cost. More often than not a good job of lighting is a matter of distribution rather than of volume. One contemplating recreational lighting should appraise the objective carefully before accepting any precise and predetermined formula. OBJECTIVE In establishing an objective, it is fairly obvious that the first calculation would be a relation of usage to cost, i.e., number of participanthours to be gained and number of persons who will use them. Next, it must be determined how important these hours are to the community or area it is to serve. Further, the cos per participant-hour must be justifie in comparison to other services. The social and physical makeup o the community or area will largely govern these calculations. Its "tone in terms of industrial, agricultural or residential development, per capita wealth, proximity to other facilities of similar nature, population densi ties, and accessibility will be the main factors for evaluation. Another important element in planning lighted areas-and it cannot be overemphasized-is multiplicity of uses. As an example, it may be difficult to justify the lighting of a baseball field as such, yet when it is designed to accommodate softball, football, track, carnivals, pageantry, and other large group activity, it becomes a fairly simple matter by reason of its diverse appeal to the whole community or area. Any compromise upon multiple-use design will build resistance in almost exact ratio to the degree of such compromise and, besides, it is very poor planning from the investment angle. (Concluded on page 14) Outdoor Lighting CHOOSING TYPE Once the decision to light any given area is reached, a choice of types is next in order. The present predomi- nance of the incandescent type is un- fortunate, although quite understand- able in that no other type has been available up to recent months. The long search for a rayless, spotless, and glareless light for recreational use has ended, however, in the color- corrected mercury vapor lamp, and, in the writer's opinion, the incandes- cent type will soon become obsolete. This is a strong statement, although not a premature one, if the experi- ence of the City of Burbank has any In Burbank, California, on June 11, 1954, a 100 per cent color- corrected mercury-vapor-lighted AAA Quality as well as intensity of light Initial cost for installation of mer- cury vapor lighting is appreciably more than the incandescent, due pri- marily to the cost of the lamp and the necessity for ballasting each unit. The Burbank installation, being the first of its kind, cost just under three times that of standard incandescent type due, naturally, to the experi- mental design, layout, and fabrica- tion work which attends such a revo- lutionary change. At present market, it would be fair to estimate the cost of mercury vapor at double that of incandescent, yet this increase in ini- tial outlay will easily be liquidated in a five-year period by the saving in In any evaluation of recreational lighting, particularly in the case of In the area of design and layout, the factors of height and location of light poles will largely determine the effectiveness of the installation, both in terms of penetration and spread; and, of course, the safety of the play- ers is also a prime consideration. The relationship of numbers of light units to angles of projection or, in other words, the placement of wide, medi- um, and narrow beam types of re- flectors, is a close second in import- ance. It often makes the difference between an adequate job with a mini- mum of light units and "loading" with additional light units to gain an equal result. A predetermined base. of light output required for a given use can be established, and to in- crease it by volume alone "just to be sure" is expensive in both installa- tion and operating cost. The qual- ity of light is not measured solely by quantity of output but is more often AMORTIZING COST Amortizing the cost of lighting replacement, and conditioning of re- In establishing hourly rates from As an example, assuming the base rate of two cents per kilowatt hour for easy calculation, the equation would produce a use charge of $1.50 per hour for the 60 kilowatts con- sidered minimum for lighting a standard softball field with the con- ventional incandescent type of lamp. Using the mercury vapor type of lamp, with 22.5 kilowatts consumed in producing an equivalent light out- put of a much higher quality, this use charge could be lowered to 56.25 cents per hour. As a further assumption, should In conclusion, it should be stated that it would be an exceptional case, HERE HAS BEEN, in recent years, a realization of the importance of many aspects of health hitherto poorly understood and neglected. Multiple sclerosis is one of the conditions about which there was, until recently, little understanding. Except for those individuals who have had the tragic experience of personal exposure or have seen a friend or relative fall victim to this malady, few were familiar with the term or understood its implications. Multiple sclerosis now afflicts approximately 250,000 persons in the United States. It tends to strike in the third and fourth decades of life. Needless to say, a disease as ravaging as multiple sclerosis affects and alters all of its victims' plans. DESCRIPTION OF MS In multiple sclerosis, for reasons which are not understood, changes take place in a curious, fatty substance called myelin, which appears to have approximately the same function for the nerve tracts of the brain and spinal cord that insulation has for electric wires. When the myelin "insulation" is damaged, the ability of the nerve tracts to transmit messages to and fro is altered. Since the brain and spinal cord dominate the control of virtually all functions of the body, multiple sclerosis may affect an individual in an infinite number of ways. The clinical picture seen in multiple sclerosis is completely unpredictable and often very bizarre. Most common disturbances are those of vision, gait, bladder and bowel function, and the onset of tremors, which usually increase when motion is attempted and often cease when the individual is in a resting position. |