The Boston Parks Department met with about 30 residents in a virtual setting last week to go over a new plan for lighting at the sports courts at Ringer Park.

Project Manager Nellie Ward said the funding for the lighting, which wasn’t in the original scope of the project but a frequent topic in public meetings, came from an unanticipated funding from the Allston Brighton Community Mitigation Fund. So no other parts of the proposed plan will change or be removed to accommodate this lighting.

The Parks Department also recently announced it has begun work on the renovation of the park, with construction taking place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Ward said there was a push/pull from residents around the courts, with abutters wanting them off earlier and park users wanting them on later.

“The lights at Ringer Park were off for roughly three decades at the request of park abutters,” she said. “Recently, they were turned back on. When that happened, several abutters reached out with concerns about the lighting, and we do understand those concerns. In many ways, those concerns led directly to this discussion tonight. The existing lights are 60 years old, and were never designed with today’s standards of controlling glare or containing light spill, particularly for nearby homes. At the same time we were receiving a rapidly increasing number of requests from park users asking for the lights to be restored.”

KZLA Architect Kyle Zick went through the new lighting, which he said is focused on the sports courts. The new lights, he said, are much better focused than the current lights and will have far less bleedthrough to residential housing.

“We’re lighting the court, and you won’t see the light fixture as much, and you won’t see light beyond the courts themselves,” he said. “There has been a lot of evolution in the technology and how you can shield and control the light itself, plus, we’re able to put these on a timer so they’re only used certain months of the year and times of day, and also they’re manually activated with a push button, so if no one’s using the courts, the lights aren’t on.”

Ward said residents should notice a difference.

“It will be night and day for the abutters,” she said.

Ward added that the lights will be fully modernized, which means if there are legitimate complaints from residents, officials could turn them off with a cell phone if needed. They said that all lights in the city’s parks at least 30 years or older are on the docket for upgrades. Ward said Smith Playground and many parks in the Parkway already have these push-button controlled systems, and they will be operational from dawn to 10 p.m.

Resident Bob Pessek said he was concerned about the shut-off time and the park’s hours.

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“There seems to be a contradiction there; the park is closed on the signs as you come in at dusk but the lights are on until 10 p.m.,” he said.

“It’s sort of like the courts are accessible from Amory Road and so the entire park is not entirely open, and so the courts will be accessible until 10 p.m.,” Ward said.

Pessek continued, pointing out that even with the lights off, the summer sees court use 24 hours a day sometimes.

“That’s not a complaint, just an observation,” he said. “But less hours for lighting would be appreciated for ourselves and our neighbors.”

Most residents said they felt this would be an improvement to the current situation, but some residents asked about why the dog park wasn’t getting night lighting as well. Ward said they didn’t want to encourage use of the inner park, where the dog park is, at night, and so the dog park will remain dark.

Ward said that construction is unlikely to finish until the summer at the least.

“Next summer of 2026 is the target date for the park opening,” they said.

For more information on the Ringer Park project, go to https://tinyurl.com/ms4pd42b