Well versed on infrastructure shortcomings, veteran Arkadelphia Parks and Recreation Director Rick Brumley saw an opportunity and rallied multiple groups behind a long-term vision. “It made sense to consolidate all our youth programs into one location,” he said.

A strong, unified force drove the successful “Arkadelphia Comes Together” campaign. It pushed support for a one-cent sales tax to help construct an aquatic park, a recreation center, and the 78-acre sports complex.

One end of the complex features four 200-foot Little League® baseball fields with 50 footcandles infield and 30 footcandles outfield and light uniformities of 2:1 and 2.5:1, respectively. The other end hosts two lighted 360-foot by 225-foot soccer fields with 30 footcandles and 2:1 uniformities and smaller practice fields that double for youth football. Musco also services the parking lots and security lighting. Separating the two athletic anchors of the facility is a stocked 3.5-acre fishing pond.

Control-Link Adds Flexibility, Reduces Energy
A supportive community and satisfied recreation administrators are pleased with the facility’s efficient and environmentally friendly lighting performance. The six current playing surfaces are lighted with a total of 22 poles and 154 Light-Structure Green fixtures. For Sports Supervisor Mike Volz, Musco’s Control-Link® online scheduling and monitoring system is generating significant energy savings as well as enhancing reliability and flexbility for the department.

For six years prior to using Control-Link, Volz struggled with manual timers. “But they were never consistent. There were power outages and mechanical problems,” Volz said. Staff labor was costly, too. “It was a minimum of two hours of labor plus fuel costs for every practice or game to call someone in. Plus, we’re saving hundreds of dollars a month on energy,” Volz added.

From a coordination standpoint, Control-Link allows Volz to track field usage to determine user fees. In addition to the complex’s fields, Volz is able to link and monitor schedules for several other locations citywide. The automated system also provides the flexibility to schedule an entire season of events in advance online and tweak the parameters as weather and other changes dictate.

Perhaps the most valuable feature for Volz is the ability to access schedules from remote locations. “Control-Link has saved my family life. I use the call-in feature more than anything else. I can be at home, the office, or camping at the lake and the Control-Link 221,962techs can pull up my data. I don’t know if you can make any improvements. I think it’s wonderful,” Volz said.

Warranty Builds a Legacy of Efficiency
Improved reflector technology providing energy savings, Control-Link’s savings, and a 25-year maintenance program will cut operating costs in half. Energy savings with the Green Generation™ system compared to typical floodlighting technologies is projected to be $50,000, and total

life-cycle cost savings over 25 years will be over $221,000. “I’ve not seen any product that’s come out to beat it yet. The competition just can’t keep up with them,” Brumley said.

Added Musco Representative Steve Ibbottson, “Arkadelphia concentrated a lot of fields to give the city a central place to go for all sports and to make maintenance more convenient.” The Constant 25™ product assurance and warranty eliminates annual costs associated with lamp maintenance and group relamps. Added Brumley, “In the long run it’s almost unbelievable to think ahead 25 years with the warranty. The equipment will outlast the people!”

After three decades of municipal service, Brumley’s department has evolved tremendously from the days of assembling competitive systems on its own and sending boom trucks to perform maintenance. “I’ve been around long enough that I’ve done
things the cheap way and the short way. This time we had the resources to do it the right way and leave it for the next generation,” Brumley concluded.