Bright lights for any city: illuminating your indoor lighting problems could save your community money.

The pool at the Washington Township Recreation Center in Centerville, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, is a swimmer's paradise. Located in the new 20,000-square-foot natatorium, the structure is C-shaped with eight lanes, a water slide and a diving well. While a smaller children's pool with fountains and a beach-like play area complements the larger pool, the facility's focal point is an 18-foot-high indoor water slide, set beneath a 300-square-foot skylight.

With so many elements coming into play, the challenge in constructing the natatorium became how to sufficiently light the pool area while keeping glare to a minimum. Since the pool is used for competition, William Prenosil, principal architect in charge of design at S.E.M. Partners, Inc., based in Columbus, Ohio, said he was particularly concerned about glare in swimmer's eyes while they are performing the backstroke.

"We needed a combination of light, the softness of indirect illumination, yet the high output provided by direct light," he says.

Another concern was maintenance. The number of fixtures located directly over the pool had to be kept low to minimize need for access with long life lamps used.

The fixtures selected are luminaires with glass reflectors and 400-watt metal halide lamps. Most of the 40 units are placed around the pool perimeter, spaced 12 feet on center. Four fixtures are directly over the pool, spaced 24 feet on center.

Prenosil indicates that energy was a consideration, particularly since upkeep and heating for the indoor pool are already expensive.

"The Washington Township Recreation Center is a non-profit organization. Therefore, we wanted to do what we could to keep lighting costs clown," Prenosil says.

Illumination levels in the natatorium are 60 foot candles maintained, with a slightly lower level directly above the pool where fewer fixtures are used. Although the light drops off a little, Prenosil says the difference is not as much as might be expected.

"Throughout the space, the illumination is very uniform," he indicates. "The prismatic glass units are functional and provide a simple elegance without calling attention to themselves."

The Recreation Center hosts a number of large swim meets each year, which are televised by a local cable station. According to Prenosil, the color and picture quality have also been excellent, with no hot spots.

Because of the success in the natatorium, the luminaires were also used in the Recreation Center's 5,000-square-foot gymnasium, which includes a 2,500-square-foot triangular lobby with a climbing wall and an atrium lighted with a skylight. The gymnasium ceiling is off-white acoustical metal deck with exposed bar joists. The lobby ceiling, which extends from 24 feet up to 30 feet at the top of the root, features laminated wood beams.

"Because of its odd shape, the lobby was tough to light. With the [luminaires] units, we were able to mix the spacing and still get even illumination. The uplight from the fixtures also accentuates the wood on the ceiling," Prenosil says.

Prismatic lighting for indoor settings is being used in more situations, as costs for facility maintenance rise. The lighting uses prisms to disperse the light throughout the room, without providing harsh glares. It also helps diffuse light coming from natural sources, to give an overall glow to the area.

Chelsea Piers, a highly used recreation center in downtown New York, also made the switch to prismatic lighting. The space originally had a long history as a steamship terminal playing host to some of the world's most elite luxury liners. During World Wars I and II, the Chelsea Piers were used as a departure site for U.S. troops. But after the war, and the coming of jet air travel, the terminal--like much of Manhattan's waterfront--eroded into a neglected war time relic. During the late 1970s, after the last ocean liner to dock at the pier set sail, the facility was utilized as a warehouse and parking garage for impounded vehicles.

It was in 1994--two decades after interest in redeveloping the waterfront for recreation purposes was first voiced--that construction of the 30-acre Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex began. The facility is built on the four remaining 900-foot piers that extend into the Hudson River, and offers sports enthusiasts about any type of year-round activity imaginable--from ice skating and gymnastics to rock climbing, swimming, lacrosse and golf.

The variety of activities offered in each sports venue presented a unique challenge as far as the lighting was concerned. In the twin-rink masonry and glass Sky Rink on Pier 61, for example, different levels of illumination were needed for collegiate hockey league competition, figure skating, public skating, and the hockey camps held there each year. The situation was complicated further by the amount of natural light coming through numerous glass windows, the humidity levels and dramatic temperature swings.

"When we were considering various lighting systems, we knew the fixtures had to be able to withstand the low temperature and humidity fluctuations that occur within the rink," says Mike Braito, general manager of property management, Chelsea Piers. "The temperature may be 45 degrees, then increase to 60 degrees, then decrease back to 45 degrees. Humidity levels range from 40 to 60 percent."

To provide the illumination levels required for the various events held in the facility (i.e. 80 percent for hockey camp, 100 percent for collegiate level competition), fixtures are controlled by a dimming system. A High Intensity Discharge lighting system was also installed to switch fixtures to pre-selected lower output levels depending on the space use or available daylight. The prismatic lighting fixtures are set up in zones and designed with a modified ballast that operates the lamps at different input wattages. On bright, sunny days, lighting fixtures may be turned off entirely.

Considered Manhattan's premier facility for gymnastics, team sports and league play, the Field House is comprised of two basketball courts, two artificial-turf playing fields for soccer and lacrosse, four batting cages, a climbing wall, a martial arts mezzanine, dance studios, and the largest gymnastics training center in New York City.

Lighting fixtures in both the Sports Center and Field House utilize 400-watt metal halide lamps. Mounting height is 16 feet, with fixtures spaced in a 15-by-20 foot grid. Illumination levels are the same as in the Sky Rink at 75 foot candles maintained.

The Sports Center includes a one quarter mile indoor running track, a 200-meter banked competition track, three basketball/volleyball courts, and an indoor sand volleyball court. The facility also boasts one of the largest climbing walls in the country, plus a six-lane, 25-yard swimming pool.

"When we first began the process of selecting the lighting system for the various venues, we conducted a study that showed that twice as many fixtures would have been required if we would have installed a fluorescent system," says Steve Margulies, president of Cosentini Lighting Design in New York City.

The lighting system was efficient enough to earn Chelsea Piers a significant rebate from the local utility, as well as light a bright enthusiasm for sports and recreation in New York City.