Friday Night Lights All Week Long?

For some, high school football played at the end of a busy week–Friday Night Lights–is as American a pastime as . 

In the Morris School District, however, it is reserved for special occasions, with portable lights brought onto so the Colonials can see the ball in front of them.

A question was raised during the Board of Education's Jan. 23 meeting, however, on whether permanent lights could, and should, be installed.

It was an idea quickly dismissed by board member Peter Gallerstein. He cited a proposal a few years ago to install lights at Harter Field in Morris Township, an idea he also was against.

"I was very much in favor of stopping that in its tracks," Gallerstein said at the meeting. Potential issues with light flooding into adjacent neighborhoods was one of the issues that ultimately killed that idea.

Gallerstein said permanent lights at the Morristown High School football field would be even worse, due to the high density of the area. "It's right in the middle of town," he said. "And, it won't be for just football. We could have games there seven days a week."

Student representative Zaji Zabalerio also noted , which could significantly alter the landscape in that area over the next several years. "It's not just the dense population, you'll now have commercial space [when the project is completed]," he said.

Morris School District Business Administrator Christine Kelly said the question on how much a cost analysis for the possible project would be was presented to an architect. However, "a penny will not be spent until it comes back," she said.

Even if the project was somehow offered to the district cost-free, though, Gallerstein said, "I'd probably still be against it."