YORKVILLE, NY — The World’s Largest LED Free-Hanging Chandelier, which was designed, manufactured and installed by Meyda Lighting, was recently lowered and inspected at the historic Stanley Center for the Arts in Utica, New York. Meyda Lighting created this magnificent work of art that uses LEDs to achieve significant energy savings.
At 35 feet wide, 11 feet tall and weighing over three tons, the chandelier was lowered from the 70-foot ceiling for inspection with a custom-made Constant Tension Device for cleaning and maintenance. Hidden from view are the intricate steel trusswork infrastructure, the super heavy-duty cables, and major roof reinforcement engineered to hold this immense work of art, which can be raised and lowered for maintenance. The chandelier’s interior includes a catwalk that cannot be seen from below, but enables maintenance personnel to walk freely within the fixture. Max Cohen, Director of Hospitality Manager of Meyda, will be inspecting the interior after the chandelier is lowered, and Meyda technicians are tasked with the responsibility of cleaning and updating any components.
“We were very excited to see the beautiful massive Meyda Lighting chandelier lowered,” explained Jerry Kraus, Executive Director of The Stanley Theater. “The chandelier is such a big part of our theater now and to see it lowered and tended by these lighting experts will be quite an event and spectacle!”
The chandelier adds stunning beauty to the lavishly decorated theatre. Custom crafted of steel, blown-glass and acrylic, this fixture was assembled in several sections of tubular steel trusses, plus a dozen sections of other steel trusses,framework and decorative embellishments. The chandelier was hand-finished in Antique Gold and Bronze to complement the theater’s Mexican baroque Moorish theme. Each truss includes a steel arm featuring a hand-painted green and white, red glass-eyed serpent spiraling down in all its charm. At the tip of each arm is a bobeche (eight in all), each with a diameter of 36 inches and designed to hold seven candles,ranging up to two feet in height. The bottom of each bobeche was designed with red and blue diamond-cut acrylic pieces to harmonize with the nuances of the theater’s color scheme and vintage lighting featured throughout the facility. Sculpted steel candlesticks simulating wax drippings, feature blown-glass diffusers replicating candletip flames.
Offering a 98.5 percent energy savings, the chandelier uses over 200 LEDs with a life span of five decades and a luminance output equivalent to 720 100-watt incandescent bulbs. The LEDs will not have to be replaced for 50 years at expected usage levels and have no hazardous waste byproducts, such as mercury, to dispose of. The lamps also generate a fraction of the heat generated by traditional light bulbs, reducing the theater’s air conditioning needs during summer months.
“The Stanley LED Chandelier was one of our greatest achievements,” said Mr. Cohen. “We are proud and delighted to lower this grand piece and showcase it to the world. Of course, the public can enjoy it everyday, not just when it is lowered.”
About Meyda Tiffany Lighting
Meyda Tiffany Lighting is the nation’s leading manufacturer and designer of custom and decorative lighting and Tiffany lamps. Founded in 1974 in Utica, New York, the firm’s roots date back to the early 1900s supplying Tiffany Studios with lighting original products, including the original Coca-Cola stained glass fixtures. With years of designing and manufacturing expertise, Meyda has developed innovations,technologies and value engineering that transcend architectural lighting for any budget or economy.
About The Stanley Theater
Originally built as a “movie palace,” The Stanley opened in the autumn of 1928 and has 2,963 seats. Constructed in just 13 months, the theater was designed by the famous architect, Thomas Lamb, who is considered one of the foremost designers of theaters and cinemas in the 20th century. The Stanley is one of three remaining Lamb theaters including Proctor’s Theatre in Schenectady, NY, and The Landmark Theatre in Syracuse, NY.