Michigan-base EverLast Lighting and Ray Electric score big with LED lighting upgrade at the home of the Detroit Pistons.
Built in 1988, The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan (owned by Palace Sports & Entertainment), is one of the jewels in the sports and entertainment industries. Home of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons and a key venue and tour stop for todays hottest musical performers, the $90 million facility has capacity for more than 24,000 attendees, houses more than 150 luxury suites, and welcomes millions of visitors annually. In addition to its reputation as a world-class venue, Pollstar recently ranked The Palace as the second highest selling arena in the United States and the fourth highest in the world.
This prominent forum is also renowned for its sustainability and has undertaken many upgrades over its nearly three decades to help ensure the most efficient operations and positive visitor experience possible. Among these enhancements was an LED upgrade completed in the summer of 2015 involving local providers EverLast Lighting, Ray Electric, Shoreview Electric, and Clarus Lighting & Control, who proved they were the team to beat when it came to enhancing the venue’s ambiance, visibility, and energy efficiency.
“The Palace is one of the most attractive venues in the world and hosts everything from professional basketball to A-list concerts”, noted Bill Gough, outside sales for Ray Electric. “It’s done a great job of staying on the top of new electrical products and constantly upgrading the facility. We’ve done work at The Palace before”.
In addition to hosting major entertainment acts that come to Detroit, “The Palace has helped the Pistons become one of the first NBA teams to embrace LED lighting”, added Paul Meteer, contractor/distributor for lighting sales agency Clarus Lighting & Control.
“We’ve done business with Shoreview Electric for 30 years, and they brought us into the project to source the fixtures from EverLast Lighting, a local company we were also familiar with”, Gough said. “Based on The Palace’s high ceiling and modern appointments the team at Shoreview designed an ingenious way of hanging 46 LED pictures on cables to create an open-air festoon effect that matched the look and feel of the surrounding facility”.
“The innovative LED fixtures were selected because of their classic design, energy-efficient LED package, and overall longevity”, Shoreview Electric President, Kevin Puma. “The system is digitally controllable and will provide a contemporary glare-free lighting enhancement to the restaurant space”.
Despite the short two- to three-week lead time given by The Palace, “EverLast was able to ship the fixtures quickly, and its proximity truly expedited this process”, Meteer said. Ray Electric also played an important role in the relay effort.
Among other services provided the electrical distributor, “We helped ensure that the product was supplied where and when it was needed by storing the fixtures in our warehouse until they were required, and results of the installation were phenomenal”, said Gough. “We’ve been doing many LED upgrades these days with a number of manufactures and EverLast is a great product. LEDs like these offer long life and energy and maintenance savings; when they’re combined with a utility rebate (if available), it’s a no brainer.”
Steve Puma, vice president of Shoreview Electric concurred and is excited about contributing to such a high-profile attraction with 100% Michigan-based product and support team. “The job came out looking fantastic”, he said. “Management at The Palace is very happy with the results and we’re pleased to have all local providers come together and compete this project in a timely manner”.
“The outstanding work of the contractor and distributor made this project run very smoothly”, Meteer concluded. “We are proud to have been a part of it”.
