Camden Yards and M&T to get energy makeovers 

Posted: 8:07 pm Wed, November 18, 2009
By Nicholas Sohr
Daily Record Business Writer

While not as flashy as new high-definition scoreboards or noticeable as bleacher repairs, the Maryland Stadium Authority expects its latest round of upgrades to Baltimore’s football and baseball venues to be easier on the environment and the authority’s balance sheet.

The Board of Public Works approved on Wednesday $12.2 million to make M&T Bank Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards more energy efficient. The authority expects $16 million in energy savings through 2021 as a result of the changes, said Jan Hardesty, authority public information officer.

“It does have a good return on it, and it’s the right thing to do,” she said.

The stadiums and warehouse office building will get high-efficiency light bulbs, and their heating, cooling, sewer and air conditioning systems will be retrofitted in hopes of cutting energy use by almost 20 percent and water use by about 13 percent.

The efficiency project comes amid a raft of renovations at the stadium complex.

A pair of 24-foot by 100-foot, high-definition video boards are scheduled to be installed in the home of the Ravens by the end of May 2010. The boards from Daktronics Inc. will replace the stadium’s original screens. The authority can no longer find replacement light emitting diode, or LED, cells to replace those that burn out and has been cannibalizing the left-most rows of the western board to keep the rest of them intact.

The authority recently finished replacing the video board at Camden Yards. The 75-foot by 28-foot, high-definition board, smaller graphic board and new control room cost $9.1 million. The authority will also spend $10 million to replace seats and repair concrete and handrails in the seating bowl.

Michael Frenz, executive director of the authority, has said more renovations could be on the way as his group tries to stretch the lifespan of the stadium.

Oriole Park was opened in April 1992 and M&T Bank Stadium in September 1998.