UC Davis' shiny new Aggie Stadium opened a year ago, and if all goes according to plan, the campus gem will shine much brighter tonight. (To see the lights switched on, click here.)

The extra shine will come from brand-new lights, hoisted into place on May 29 atop 120-foot-tall steel poles. The lights are due for their first test at around 8:30 p.m. today (May 30). So, if you think night is turning into day at the central campus's west edge, you will know why.

Student Affairs Vice Chancellor Fred Wood sent out an e-mail advisory the night of May 29 to Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef and other campus officials, to tell them about the test, in case they receive questions.

Wood started his note by stating: "Good news! The stadium lights are installed."

The $600,000 lighting system consists of four poles that hold a total of 180 metal halide lights, most of them 1,500 watts strong. Each light is aimed at a different part of the playing field, said Dale Terrell, project manager for Musco Lighting of Oskaloosa, Iowa.

"It'll seem like daylight. It'll be really, really impressive," he said in between directing the placement of the poles. The high-wattage lights are designed to put out a combined 100-foot candlepower (a measurement of lighting intensity), the brightness needed for television coverage of night events. By comparison, candlepower on high school football fields is 30 to 50 feet, he said.

As a crane and crew lifted each pole, and placed it on its previously installed concrete footing, Terrell stood at four different points near the Gunrock athletics logo at the middle of the field. A computer program told him where to stand, and he measured to make sure he was in the right place for each pole.

Then, for each pole, he looked for a tiny red laser on the top row of lights. When he had the laser in his line of sight, Terrell signaled the crew to bolt the pole into place. The battery-operated lasers, having served their purpose, died out in a few hours.

Without lights last year, UC Davis opened its football season in the new stadium at midday on Sept. 1 — when the temperature in the stands neared 100 degrees. Dozens of people complained of heat-related problems.

There should be no repeats for the 2008-09 season. The Aggie football schedule shows six home games, with kickoff for the first five at 6 p.m., starting with a Sept. 13 game against Portland State. UC Davis' last home game of the season is the Causeway Classic against Sacramento State. That game is set for a 2 p.m. kickoff on Nov. 8, and heat should not be factor that late in the year.

The lights will be used for more than just football games. Aggie Stadium is also home to the women's lacrosse team. In addition, the stadium will be available for evening concerts and community events.

The $31 million stadium project included underground conduit for the lighting system, but not the poles and lights. So, when the money became available, the installation was relatively simple: build the footings, put up the poles and lights, and run the wiring.

Among the 45 lights on each pole are two that burn at 2,000 watts. These are emergency lights, and will stay on via auxiliary power in the event the stadium loses electricity, Terrell said.

The eight emergency lights will illuminate the way for people exiting the stadium during a power failure.

The flip of the switch scheduled for tonight is really just a preliminary test of the electrical system and the lights. The campus fire marshal and other officials are expected to return on June 3 to conduct a more extensive test to ensure the emergency system works properly.