The city of Bexley is a fairly quaint and quiet, especially at night. Some residents, though, worry that will change if Capital University goes through with a plan to install lights in its football stadium. Larry Ferraris has lived about three blocks from Bernlohr Stadium for ten years.
We call this South Bexley. It's a very quiet, walkable neighborhood.
That's with the stadium packed full of rowdy football and soccer fans. Ferrasis says the tranquility is certain to fade if Capital installs lights and starts hosting night games and student events after dark. He says there's no upside for nearby residents, only negatives. "Noise at night that we never had before, 110-foot stadium lights, light pollution that we never had before, strangers coming through the neighborhood that we never had before at night, traffic problems, and an extra burden on the Bexley Police Department," Ferraris says. Ferraris is one of many residents near the stadium with yards signs reading "No Lights No Nights" and "Keep Our Neighborhood Safe."
Capital University Athletic Director Steve Bruning has been vocal in his support of lighting up the stadium, but declined an interview for this story because he's meeting Monday night with neighbors and Bexley city officials. The three sides have burned through several different proposals. The current plan calls for the Bexley Planning Commission to approve a zoning change to allow the lights. It would also include provisions on how often the lights can be used, and how loud the sound system can be at night. Bexley Mayor Ben Kessler says it would also address other concerns from neighbors. "We're going to see a better condition, not just at night but in the day, when it comes to parking in neighborhoods, traffic management, security officers at events, that we'll see an improvement in existing conditions," Kessler says.
Kessler says the planning commission can act without consent from neighbors, but wants their support. The few Capital students we spoke to favor field lights, including Kirby Leitschuh, who rents a house directly across the street from the stadium. "Just because I'm a student at Capital, I would like to see night games. I think it would be a better crowd," she says. Student Allison Fulk likes the idea of night games for another reason. "The night games are beneficial to the students when they have other school things that they have to do, and I think it would be better to have games later just to help the students out," says Fulk. The idea of helping students out isn't convincing nearby resident Larry Ferraris. He lives a few blocks from the stadium and says many people who live even closer to the stadium have vowed to move if lights go up. "So what you're going to have, you're going to have a degrading of the neighborhood right in that area. It's going to go to rental properties or whatever. You're going to lose your quality homeowner."
Representatives of Capital, the city of Bexley, and the neighborhood association plan to meet again Monday night. The city hopes to have a deal in place by the end of the month.