Built in 1928, St. James Lutheran Church in West Saint Paul, Minnesota was eager to update their lighting system. In addition to an update to the flooring in the sanctuary, the objective of their upgrade project was to increase the light levels, cut their energy consumption, and integrate a new, sophisticated controls package while staying in the congregation funded budget.
Jen Pytleski from Collins Electrical Construction, the lighting designer for the project, worked closely with JTH Lighting Alliance and Manning Lighting, the manufacturer of the original fixtures, to produce a budget friendly solution. Custom retrofits from Manning Lighting were provided for 80% of the existing fixtures. Jen Pytleski presented the church with renderings and lighting calculations to provide guidance on light levels and color temperature options. The church elected to replace the (6) pendants in the Nave for new, larger pendants with higher outputs in order to meet their light level needs. A 3000K CT was specified for the fixtures to provide a warm and modern feel to the space.
Because of the pre-existing architectural conditions of the church, all LED fixtures and retrofits were specified with reverse-phase dimming from ETC in order to utilize the existing wiring for the new architectural dimming system. The new controls package provides superb zone, scene, and dimming control capabilities. A new ETC Paradigm LCD touchscreen is located near the sound system controls for ease of accessibility. Additional ETC Unison Heritage button stations are located at the pulpit and sanctuary entrance.
Photography: Michael Marren Photography