>         It took me a while to realize it, but IMO the lighting is a problem.  At
> Snively the lights hung and shone straight down.  At Towse, they have installed
> what amounts to an industrial grade track-lighting system, in two banks, one on
> either side of the rink.  Musta been some yuppie engineer.  Because they shine
> down at an angle, and are farther away,  they have to be much brighter to
> illuminate the ice surface as well as Snively.  The problem is that fans on the
> sides now have the lights in their eyes much more than at Snively.  Clearly this
> is not an improvement.
 
        Actually the trend in arenas everywhere, hockey and otherwise, is
away from overhead lighting and more towards the diagonally focused light
banks similar to those at the Whittemore Center. Overhead lighting, which
is still prevalent as most HE rinks (MC, BU, Maine and PC come right to
mind) generally does not illuminate the ice as well, doing so in a
splochy manor that leaves lighter and darker areas based on proximity to
a light.
        The banks, like those at Mullins as well, bath the ice equally,
the lower lights (focused at the closer boards) less strong than the ones
higher up on the banks which focus on the center ice area. As for
effecting fans and play, I've never heard of problems. Sitting on press
row at our basketball games (which amounts to the middle of the
Olympic-sized sheet) the lights have never really effected me, neither
have I noticed them. Unlike hockey where the puck seldom rises above eye
level, you DO have to look up during basketball games (especially with
that Camby fellow) and I havn't been bothered or distracted by them. Even
during the NCAA Volleyball games we hosted, where you REALLY had to look
up, they didn't pose a problem in that department.
        Another thing that will help doom the overhead lighting system is
the fact that new arenas are being built with higher roofs. With the
lamps farther removed from the ice, the final effect is an even splochier
ice surface, as the height amplifies the gaps between the bulbs. Not to
mention the fact that the lights here have yet to interfere with play,
unlike at other arenas where play is frequently stopped due to the puck
striking the roof or something suspended from it (read: lights). This can
give teams an unfair whistle when shorthanded or stop a potential
airborne breakin. This has yet to happen at Mullins with the high roof
and UNH-style track lights.
 
Leigh
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