It’s only February, but I’m excited for the fall.

The Cassville school district is moving forward with a lighting update at Wildcat Stadium — a long overdue one in my opinion.

I’ve been shooting Cassville football games every year since 2014, and though the scoreboard has been updated since then, the lights have been the same for more than a dozen years.

The district had planned to upgrade the lights in two years, as they were included in the list of projects in a bond issue being developed for voters in April 2027. However, the school board members’ hands were slightly forced by safety concerns.

The age of the lights was beginning to show, as they were pulling more electricity than the breaker boxes were designed to carry. This resulted in the boxes getting hot, which could present a potential fire hazard.

Barry Electric assessed the situation and advised the district to act “sooner rather than later.” Avoiding a potential fire, or the lights failing in the middle of a football game, is a wise decision given the circumstances.

Cassville awarded the LED project to Qualite, a company recommended by other school districts in the region, including Joplin High School, at a price tag of $212,557.

The switch from metal halide and mercury vapor to LED will serve a couple purposes. First, the current light bulbs are tied up in tariff issues, making them difficult to obtain. Second, LED lights will give an energy savings, hopefully cutting the district’s electric use by more than half.

The old lights may also be reused, as the baseball field uses the same type of bulbs.

With the change to LED, lighting on the football field should see a boost, as the purchase will give 50 candlefoot, which is NCAA football stadium standard lighting. A term I had never come across to my knowledge, a foot-candle is a unit of light intensity measuring illuminance cast on a surface, defined as one lumen per square foot. It represents the brightness on a surface on foot away from a candle source.

I don’t actually own a light meter, but I do know the aperture and shutter speed settings on my camera and will be able to tell instantly if the new lights make a significant difference.

The middle of a football field is always the brightest, but I hope this change will illuminate the end zone a little bit more. Even on my best setting, with the Wildcats wearing black at home, the corners of the end zones can be so dark it’s hard to get a good late-game touchdown shot that’s not terribly dark.

I have shot football at countless stadiums across the region and state. If i’m being honest, Monett is the best place to shoot lighting-wise, but the reflectivity of the turf in Monett also gives an unfair advantage.

When I was editor at The Monett Times from 2014-2022, I usually shot at least one Piece City game each year. Lighting on that field was probably better measured in candletoes. It was incredibly tough to get non-blurry photos with how dark that stadium was.

I’m hoping the upgrade at Cassville will give me more to work with, which will result in crisper photos under the Friday Night Lights, and better quality shots in the printed edition of the paper.

While the field is a focus, the new lights will also illuminate the parking lot, as well as a whole new area — the practice field. I am curious to see if there will be more youth playing in that area during games, as it was exceptionally dark down there with no lighting before.

Finally, the new lights come with a series of eight light shows. Since we only have four light poles, the light shows will all look the same. Still, it is a new feature that will add an air of excitement to when the Wildcats bust through the banner and when they score touchdowns. 

Though the district had to make the change earlier than planned, I can’t wait to get that first celebration photo and video under the new lights on Friday nights!.

Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He is a three-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or [email protected].