Night Baseball Coming to Brown's Chapel?

What will the future of Brown's Chapel Park look like with a lighted field?

Depends who you ask. It will look like night baseball for Reston Little League players, but it could also mean light pollution for nearby residents.

Reston Association approved more than $282,000 for ball field improvements at Brown's Chapel as part of this year's budget. Brown's Chapel contains three baseball fields.

Much of the money will be spent on overall field enhancements, but RA also wants to install lighting on field No. 1 - which is the Little League field and the field closest to the Brown's Chapel building - as well as in the parking lot.

The proposal has been discussed at recent RA Design Review Board meetings and will likely be discussed again in June, RA Parks and Recreation Director Larry Butler said.

The DRB will have to approve the lighting designs before it goes forward. The proposal also includes plans for lighting field No. 2 in 2014.

The proposal includes the installation of six 60-foot poles with three light fixtures on each and the installation of nine 20-foot tall parking lot light fixtures outfitted with shoebox style, energy efficient LED lights.

Other elements of the proposal include running an underground power cable to the concession stand, downcast wall lighting on the concession stand, and the installation of a scoreboard on one of the ball field light poles.

Butler says lights will enhance baseball in Reston.

"This will offer increased playability," he told the Design Review Board in a February meeting. "It will offer a 40-percent increase in player hours. It will also offer greater scheduling flexibility, more home games, less driving [to away games] for parents, the ability to host tournament games, and a parking lot that will be lit for safety."

Butler said RA approved lights for the parking lot nearly a decade ago and the proposal for lighting the field has been discussed since 2003.

"The parking lot is one of the darkest places in Reston," he said. "Quite frankly, I am surprised we have not lit it before. "

Some nearby residents say the park should not have lights.

"I testified about this 11 years ago," said Dave Williams, who lives on Waterfront Road. "I don't think I have to tell you the impact of lighting on neighborhoods. It will change the use of the lands. There will be more people, more traffic. It's not just lights - it's noise.

"I went on the field, and I can see across the lake [Newport]. The lake is highly reflective of light and sound. I like to look at the stars. I'm not going to see any stars if there are lights."

However, Butler and Musco Lighting, the company that develops systems for community fields, say lighting has changed dramatically since this was last discussed in 2003.

The traditional field lighting method has been four poles. The Brown's Chapel proposal includes six, which will reduce hot spots and point lights downward at a steeper angle so the lights will be more focused on the field, Butler said.

A representative from Musco said improved visoring around the lights has reduced light candle levels 90 percent since the 1970s. Lights placed closer to fields, higher up (60-80 foot poles) and at a steeper angle have also helped, he added.

Butler added that county ordinance says that lights must go out by 11 p.m. and that the proposal includes remote operation via computer (ensuring that whoever is supposed to "turn out the lights" can do it from anywhere).

Baseball consultant and Reston resident John Pinkman, along with Reston Little League representatives, are in favor of the proposal.

"Reston Little League serves 650 players and is growing each year," a little league parent said. "We do our best to give families best possible baseball experience., but we have to stop games early. One thing that would help families is to have lights at Brown's Chapel."

Bonnie Haukness, who also lives on Waterfront, says she is not convinced that new and improved lighting will do what it says.

In 2011, lighting with similar new technology was installed at Lake Fairfax Park. Haukness said she went over to the park to take a look,

"The point was made these are new and best lights available," she said. "It was, in fact, fully like daylight [at Lake Fairfax]. These lights light enormous areas."

To see the entire package of field improvements planned for Brown's Chapel, read the PDF attached to this article.

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Do you think lights should be installed at Brown's Chapel field No. 1? Tell us in the comments.