Before Illinois bought the historic Springfield Marine & Fire Insurance Co. building for $10, Chase Bank operated there. It was Chase that donated the building to the State when it moved out so that it could house the State Treasurer’s Office.
The old building proved ideal for this purpose because of its expansive space that included bank vaults for unclaimed property. The location offered the additional benefit of keeping the State’s employees in the downtown area.
Although the building is known for its majestic architecture and massive pillars outside the front entrance, until recently, it was poorly lit. But in 2023, the historic building received a lighting facelift to spotlight its grandiose features.
When the state took over the building, its 25-foot columns were only partially lit by poorly functioning quartz halogen lighting. As part of its renovation efforts, the State wanted a new lighting system that would draw attention to the massive building which measures 100 by 35 feet with 13 oversized pillars located 12 feet from the building’s façade. The State also wanted a lighting system with color-changing capabilities to recognize special events and holidays throughout the year.
The State called in Rodney Frey of Anderson Electric and Bill Hudgins from Lighting Associates, which is known for its commitment to educate specifiers, end users, contractors and distributors so they can find the right solution for any lighting application.
“We had three major criteria for lighting the exterior of the Illinois State Treasurer building,” says Hudgins. “The lighting system had to offer long-term functionality, color changing capabilities and be easy to use when it came to adjusting the colors.”
After intensive investigation, Hudgins ultimately specified Dyna Drum SO SCS from Acclaim Lighting because of the luminaire’s performance, simple-to-control features that did not require the pulling of additional wiring for control and an attractive total lifetime cost.
Dyna Drum SO SCS is a high output, outdoor rated, multi-color LED, featuring an internal 100-277VAC power supply and onboard DMX+RDM driver. In addition, each unit carries Acclaim’s Aria wireless DMX technology inside the luminaire for precise color control.
IP66 rated for wet applications, the RGBW luminaire provides up to 4,200 lumens, 187,500 with a standard eight-degree beam angle with 20-degree, 40-degree, 60 degree and 10 degrees by 60 degree spread lens options. It consumes only 150 watts operating at 100-277VAC, 50/60 Hz and performs in temperatures from –40 degrees Fahrenheit to 125 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 degrees Celsius to 51 degrees Celsius) with a rated performance life of 150,000 hours.
Dyna Drum SO SCS also features DMX+RDM control with a manual color-setting menu, photocell included, and an Aria wireless direct connect. The Aria Wireless DMX system is a compact, local, outdoor rated wireless DMX system. Its transceiver can act as either the sending or receiving point, with up to 15 channels on the 2.4 gigahertz band. The internal wireless radio features both automatic networking and signal routing optimization to ensure the best possible reception of DMX data. A five decibel, omni-directional antenna is included, which provides transmission up to 2600-feet line of sight and 300-feet between obstructions and walls. Power consumption is only three watts.
