New Spot Lights At Football Field Held Finest Ever

The new $6,500 set of lights on the football practice field is the finest the College has ever had, James F. McRae, Athletic Association Grounds Director, said yesterday.

Installed over the summer by the Anderson-Coffey Co., the same contractors who built Fenway Park's lighting plant, the floodlights fill a need that has plagued Crimson coaches for years.

Six batteries of six 1500-watt bulbs--the same type used for major league baseball games--comprise the lighting unit. Three batteries are attached to the Stadium wall, the other three top a trio of removable 45-foot towers at the edge of the practice enclosure.

New Transformer

The illumination afforded by the lights is the minimum for practice purposes, McRae said, but players agreed that the lights are a great improvement over the makeshift equipment of the past.

In order to produce enough electrical power to operate the lights, McRae's staff had to install a new transformer under Soldiers Field during the summer. An underground cable leads from the transformer to the towers.

The wooden towers are set in concrete blocks and sleeves. After the season, the posts will be removed and the holes covered and sodded, leaving the field ready for baseball.

"The supply of electricity to the Stadium in the past has been barely adequate," McRae said. "The new transformer will enable us to provide better facilities for everything from television cameras to hot dog stands."