The trend towards all-day school is pushing back the free time of many young people – especially on the short days in winter or in the transition months, the early darkness can hinder their urge to move. Floodlight systems promise a remedy, not only on club soccer fields, but recently also for the booming open sports facilities such as skate parks. After a successful pilot test on the large facility “Im Gefilde” in Waldperlach, the city wants to illuminate 21 such “youth play facilities” in the next few years and spend more than nine million euros on them. The then red-black city hall coalition initiated the project in early 2017.
In autumn 2018, a total of twelve light poles for the skate park, the artificial turf soccer field and the streetball field were installed on the Waldperlach facility for 300,000 euros. To protect against insects, the sports areas are illuminated in a concentrated manner without scattering. To avoid waste, the lighting is controlled by a timer. Shortly before switching off, the floodlight shines only dimly for five minutes to avoid accidents caused by sudden darkness. The lighting is switched off centrally from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The sections with daylight are rather short, especially in winter.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
At the “Im Gefilde” skate park, the number of uses by individual visitors has increased massively since the floodlights were installed.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
The evaluation of the experiment was supposed to be completed by spring 2020, which was delayed by two years due to Corona. It finally came out that the lighting enables 5,000 to 8,000 additional visits per year. The energy requirement of 4370 kilowatt hours corresponds to the average annual consumption of a four-person household. In a survey, the users of the facility and the (quite distant) residents of the facility were equally impressed by the illuminated evening sport.
A feasibility study now lists 21 other systems suitable for lighting. They are distributed throughout the city, from Freiham via Feldmoching-Hasenbergl and Milbertshofen-Am Hart to Riem, as well as in more central areas such as Maxvorstadt, Sendling or at the Theresienwiese. The investment costs vary greatly, depending on the size and location of the pitches, they are between 100,000 and 700,000 euros. A total of nine million euros are estimated to be invested between 2024 and 2029. The ongoing operation, including the energy costs of around 20,000 euros, should cost around 200,000 euros per year. The city also wants to create three new administrative positions for the project. The municipal building committee will deal with the project from May. The Treasury has already agreed to the expenses.