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One thing I
realized, after opening the bocce court in the fall of 2006, was that lighting
the court was going to be high priority for the April 2007 opening day. Over
the early winter of 2006, I was going over different ideas on how to light the
bocce court. I thought of using spotlights mounted high up on the house but
realized they would light the entire neighborhood along with the bocce court.
Another thought I had was using some old 2 inch diameter, 15 foot long galvanized
pipe that I had lying around the house. I would cement these next to the court,
run some wires through and mount some type of light on top. I wasn’t crazy
about these two ideas.
I got lucky
one day while talking to a friend of mine about my future lighting project
ideas. He works at a large complex and said I might be interested in some old
12 foot parking lot lights that were taken down during a past renovation. They
were replaced with new light poles and the old ones would eventually be cut up
and thrown out. I went to take a look and thought they would be perfect,
aesthetically and functionally, for the bocce court. They weren’t too tall and projected
light downwards only so they wouldn’t light up all the neighbor’s windows. I
took them home and gave them a new lease on life.
I found the
manufacturers nameplate inside the light pole and looked up their website.
Purchasing these lights new today would cost a lot of cannolis. The nameplate
had a date of manufacture of 1991, which meant they were probably in use at
this complex for about 15 years. Their paint finish reflected this date for
they were very weather worn and dirty. The aluminum poles were structurally
perfect but cosmetically ugly and wired for the wrong voltage of 277 volts. In
January of 2006, I began to completely strip, repaint and rewire them for house
current of 120 volts. I was unsure of the exact light distribution they would
produce upon the bocce court so I rebuilt three of the four light poles
thinking this would be the maximum I would need.
Initially
installed in these poles, from years ago, were high pressure sodium bulbs which
produce a yellowish type light. You’ll still see these used in some
neighborhood streetlights and along the highway. Parking lot lights now use
metal halide bulbs that project a more natural white light. This allows you to
distinguish colors very well (e.g. car colors in a parking lot or bocce ball
colors in my court). I used a 150 watt metal halide bulb in each pole.
The light
pole rebuilding was completed in February 2007. I waited for a night when there
was no snow on the ground to do a light distribution test. I attached a
temporary electrical plug to the bottom of each poles wiring. I initially stood
two poles up along the court and plugged them into an outdoor outlet with an
extension cord. I dragged my wife Maria and my son Alberto out of the house on
a cold and dark night to hold the poles up while they were illuminated. We
moved the two poles in from the ends of the court towards each other until
there were no shadows on the court. It ended up that only two poles were needed
to light the entire court, which was a nice surprise. This meant less digging
in the spring for a third or fourth light pole. We took them down, covered
them, and marked their locations to dig concrete footings when the spring thaw
came.
The entire
project was a lot of work, but I was very happy with the way it turned out. The
following photos chronicle the entire lighting project along with a scoreboard
and bocce ball racks that I made.
Photo 1
This shows
what one of the 12 foot light poles looked like when I originally I got them.
They weren’t very pretty but in structurally great shape.
Photo 2
A bottom
view shows the hollow opening running through the pole in which the wiring
passes through. I had already removed the electrics, bulb and reflector from
the light head assembly. The aluminum poles look very heavy but only weigh 110
pounds.
Photo 3
This is the
hinge plate mechanism at the bottom of the pole which is a great feature. This
will be anchored in a concrete footing.
Photo 4
The hinge plate
allows the light pole to be tilted down to do maintenance or change a light
bulb instead of using a stepladder to climb up.
Photo 5
A top view
showing two of the poles. The one on the left has been stripped down to the bare
aluminum. I used a chemical paint stripper to completely remove the old paint.
The one on the right has what’s left of the original paint job after a lot of
years out in the elements.
Photo 6
A bottom
view of the same poles with the one on the right completely stripped of the old
paint.
Photo 7
All three
poles with a coat of primer applied.
Photo 8
The bottom
view of the poles all primed ready for the final coats of paint. I used 18 foot
u-channel sections to support the poles for the paint job. These supports came
from my old garage door when I replaced it a few years back. I saved them
thinking I could use them for something and sure enough, they worked perfect.
Photo 9
The poles
are finished off with two coats of flat black.
Photo 10
A before
and after showing the pole’s bottom hinge plate, which was cleaned and
repainted.
Photo 11
A top view
of the light head stripped of its paint down to the bare aluminum.
Photo 12
An inside
view of the same light head assembly with the internal parts removed.
Photo 13
A before
and after paint job of the light head.
Photo 14
The light
head assembly on the left is what the original looked like with the old ballast
and wiring. I rewired the one on the right, after the paint job, with the new
metal halide ballast and organized the wiring bundle.
Photo 15
This shows
how the glass door opens to access the inside of light head assembly. The one
on the left shows the old high pressure sodium bulb and reflector. The
reflector is an aluminum dish that reflects the light from the bulb and
distributes it down upon the ground in a particular pattern. I was fortunate
that the four light poles came with two different style reflectors. One pair
seemed like an older design which is shown above. After a lighting comparison
test, I ended up using the newer style because it had a better light
distribution on the ground. You’ll see the newer style reflector I ended up
using in later photos.
Photo 16
Spring has
arrived and the ground has thawed enough to start digging the concrete footings
and wiring trench. I needed to keep the dirt close by because it was eventually
going back in the hole so I just used some tarps to keep the dirt off the
court.
Photo 17
The 75 foot
long, 18 inch deep wiring trench leads to the shed. I had already installed the
electrics for the shed lighting and pool pump a few years ago. Therefore I just
had to tap into the shed to power the light poles for the bocce court.
Photo 18
The wiring
conduit passes up through the 5 foot deep concrete form. The concrete form
consisted of a 4 foot long by 1 foot diameter tube topped with a 1 foot cubed
box. I made the top box form to match the light pole square base. I thought the
pole would look better mounted on a square base versus a circular base.
Photo 19
A top view
looking down into the 5 foot concrete form.
Photo 20
This
concrete form, placed mid court in between the two light poles, consists of a 2
foot deep by 1 foot diameter tube that will eventually hold a scoreboard.
Photo 21
19 bags of
concrete wait to be mixed.
Photo 22
The human
concrete mixers are ready to go. Again, as with building the court, my friend
Giulio Coppolla lends me a hand.
Photo 23
We inserted
four pieces of ½ inch rebar into the form to reinforce the concrete. We then
mixed and filled it with concrete one bag at a time.
Photo 24
These are
the hinge plates with 18 inch anchor bolts attached. These anchor bolts will be
permanently mounted in the concrete.
Photo 25
Sinking the
anchor bolts into the wet concrete.
Photo 26
Keeping the
assembly centered as it goes into the concrete.
Photo 27
One last
check to make sure it’s centered. I’ll then undo the nuts and remove the hinge
plate allowing the concrete to dry.
Photo 28
With the
hinge plate removed, and the anchor bolts set, Giulio puts the finishing
touches on the concrete before it dries.
Photo 29
Now it just
needs to dry.
Photo 30
This pipe
will be set in the concrete to eventually hold my scoreboard. I drilled a hole
and attached a cross bolt through the bottom of the pipe. This cross bolt will
keep the pipe from rotating when I want to screw on a longer pipe on top after
the concrete has dried.
Photo 31
The
attached level will help me keep everything plumb as we set it into the
concrete.
Photo 32
I used a
scrap piece of pipe to mount the level, which will be removed after the concrete
has dried.
Photo 33
Giulio puts
the finishing touches on the wet concrete.
Photo 34
The
concrete has dried and the pipe is capped and waits for the longer pipe
attachment and scoreboard.
Photo 35
Now it’s
time to run the wire through the conduit. My son Alberto was at the other end
pulling the wire.
Photo 36
The wires
are ready to be attached to the light pole. I installed nuts on the top and
bottom of the hinge plate assembly. This allowed me to level the base by
adjusting the nuts and it also created an air space underneath so water
wouldn’t build up and corrode the plate.
Photo 37
Some
crushed stone was added to the area where the work was preformed.
Photo 38
The light
pole is attached to the hinge plate with an aluminum pin and the wiring is
connected.
Photo 39
Both light
poles are connected and wait to be raised into position.
Photo 40
The flat
area on top of the light takes a beating from the elements of weather, which
was evident when I received them originally. I plan to cover just the light
head with a trash bag just for the winter months when not in use. I was
concerned with birds hanging around the top of the light after standing them
up. I was expecting to have to put some kind of bird deterrent on top, but
after a season of use, I never saw a bird land up there. It’s not so much the
birds, it’s what they leave behind that can make a mess of the finish.
Photo 41
The light
pole is secured in the upright position with two stainless steel bolts.
Photo 42
This is a skyward view of the underside of the light
head. This is the newer style reflector that I ended up using and talked about
previously.
Photo 43
I knew what
I wanted in a scoreboard but I just couldn’t find exactly what I liked for sale
anywhere. I took what I liked in a few designs I saw and combined them for my
own prototype. I used a 4 foot long by 1 foot wide piece of scrap plexiglass.
The two wooden knobs and a half-inch wooden dowel were found at a crafts store.
Photo 44
Too make a
long story short, here’s what I came up with. We only play to 11 points at my
house. Drilling the holes in the plexiglass was tricky until I got the speed
set right on my drill press. I drilled a hole half way into the flat side of
wood knobs, glued a 2 inch wood dowel into it and painted it black. The colored
vinyl tape and numbering was done courtesy of Danny and Mike at Vacca Sign
Company.
Photo 45
I side view
of the scoreboard. I mounted the scoreboard on a piece of pressure treated wood
and used two u-clamps to mount the whole thing to the pipe.
Photo 46
It’s sort
of a cribbage board set up. It works for me.
Photo 47
A view of
the scoreboard in relation to the lights.
Photo 48
I made
bocce ball holders out of scrap composite deck pieces left over from various
projects. One holder was made for each end of the court. This photo shows the
bottom in relation to the top. I didn’t want to permanently attach them so they
can be placed anywhere desired along the top edge of the court.
Photo 49
This is how
the ball holder it sits on the top edge of the court. This is better than
tripping over the balls sitting on the ground by your feet.
Photo 50
I made 3, 4, 5 and 6 team double elimination charts. The one
shown is for a big 6 team (24 guy) tournament. I prefer to organize teams on a
chart rather than play pick up games if I can.
Photo 51
A daytime
view of the completed project. No problem if it gets dark out because………….
Photo 52
………………..we’ll
just turn on the lights. “If you build it…………
Photo 53
…………..they
will come”…………….but be prepared…………
Photo 54
…………………….
when you have friends, food, wine, and a great (lighted) bocce tournament going
on………
Photo 55
………..they
may never leave.
I’ve
introduced many people, girls/guys/kids, to this great game over this past
summer and had some memorable times. I play what I call ”Camanooch’s open
rules” at my house, which translates to “Every shot counts and have fun”. You
can bank balls off the corner boards, backboard or whatever. When I put
together tournaments, I always have a few people that have never played before.
I don’t like to discourage them with rules that dwell upon their skill level.
People will get discouraged and won’t come back if I tell them for example,
their shot didn’t count because their ball rolled to the backboard before
hitting another ball. I don’t think anyone can say they didn’t have a great
time playing at my house. Stricter rules are fine for the Olympic Bocce Team
but I just don’t think it has a place in back yard bocce, especially when
trying to introduce someone new to the game.
We’ve
played a lot of back yard tournaments on a Saturday night this past summer.
Sometimes it’s the guys and girls making up teams. Other times I’ll put the
call out for 16 or 20 guys to come play double elimination, using four man
teams, for a small pot of money. We’ll eat, drink and play all night. The
winning team leaves my back yard at the end of the night being able to brag
they are the Bocce World Champions (until the next Saturday night tournament).
Thanks for
taking a look around. I’ve received much e-mail in the past and I truly
appreciate any and all comments at carmine63@gis.net
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