Detroit — Comerica Park is about to be lit.
On Wednesday, workers began installing 472 new LED light fixtures at the Tigers’ ballpark, the latest step in a two-month-long project aimed at upgrading the aesthetics of the 23-year-old ballpark.
In December, helicopters were brought over to Comerica Park to remove the original light fixtures from the stadium’s 16 light towers. The new LED lights now are going in this week, ahead of the Tigers’ home opener, Thursday, April 6, against the Boston Red Sox.
Officials with the Tigers have said the new lights will serve multiple purposes, including creating a better-looking TV broadcast. Energy conservation will be significant, as well, officials said, plus the new LED lights will provide stadium operators more opportunities to hype up the crowd. Players also should see a noticeable impact, too, with less glare expected off the light towers.
“It’s something we’ve entertained for quite a while,” Chris Lawrence, vice president of ballpark operations, said in December. “The opportunity was there to get it done.”
Comerica Park’s old lighting system used traditional bulbs, which would take several minutes to fire up. The new system will be like flipping a light switch.
All but a couple of Major League Baseball teams have retro-fitted their lighting systems, with the Tigers, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox the most recent.
Musco Sports Lighting is overseeing the Comerica Park project, custom-building the LED fixtures on site so that they could be angled properly before installation. Detroit-based Bayview Electric Company is handling the installation of the LED lights. There will be at least two weeks of testing before the Tigers open the 2023 season. Their first night game is Friday, April 14, against the San Francisco Giants.
This is one of two significant ballpark projects this offseason for the Tigers, who also are bringing the fences in, and lowering the height of some of the outfield walls.
These projects come five years after Tigers chairman and CEO Christopher Ilitch pledged “next-level” improvements to Comerica Park, which opened in 2020.
“We’re trying to do what’s right,” said Lawrence, “for the players and the fans.”
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