"This is a state-of-the-art facility with features you would normally only find in a building that was built from the ground up," Brad Garven says. "It was an unusual renovation."
Make that an extensive renovation.
Garven, of the STH Architectural Group, a Leo A Daly Company, says, "They wanted a first-class PAC, and the final outcome is something that is typically found in a major urban area."
TSG Design Solutions was the theatrical consulting company, with Stephen Placido as project manager. In his 21 years as a theater consultant he's completed more than 100 live event spaces, but none has been quite like this one. "It's one of the few projects where at the initial meeting we were already discussing dimensions in inches," Placido says. Conversations immediately went to "if we run the ramp here, we'll miss the existing footer by 2-1/2-inches," and so on. "Those kind of discussions were happening very early on."
The venue is at South Florida Community College (SFCC)'s Highland Park campus in Avon Park, Fla., and its technical director, Bil Kovacs, who has been with the college for 20 years, asked for everything and the kitchen sink, and pretty much got it (yes, he's still stunned by it all). "Everything went away!" Kovacs says, of the 11-month renovation that transformed the existing SFCC auditorium at into the state-of-the-art SFCC Theatre for the Performing Arts. Save for most of the concrete exterior, he's correct. This road was taken because the school received a special grant for a renovation, but not a "new" building. It would have been easier starting from scratch, he admits, but that did not stop the team – it only made them work harder.
But after the comments of how pretty it is are done, it comes down to the sound, and from how the floor was raked to the digital audio system that was installed, this is truly a world-class house.
"Proper Adult Supervision"
SFCC's Highland Park campus has been presenting touring performers since 1984, but the former auditorium also served very much as a community theater, with matinee events aimed at entertaining the seniors in the area. There's typically a jazz series and programs that appeal to children, too.
"We do about 150 shows and events a year, and that includes everything from a single person lecturing from a podium to big traveling musicals," Kovacs explains. He adds that the school doesn't offer theater classes – though this renovation might inspire that to change.
The original theater "did the job for 31 years," Kovacs says, saying that the 1,445 seat single-level theater had an excellent PA and great lights. "It was just very dated."
He says the acoustician, Edward Duggar, was a major component of the project's ultimate success. Duggar was involved from the very beginning, and says he was able to alert the team that an initial scheme was not going to work well sound-wise. Duggar's input on exactly how the seats were divided and how the floors were raked allowed him to adjust the acoustic throw patterns of the room. "It's tailored to different areas of the room so that the space always feels filled up with people. And when they just want to use the front part of the seating area, they can dim down the theater sound-wise to the point that it's as if it's a theater with half as many seats."
One of the many things Placido appreciated was how specific the client was. "The staff was very clear on what they needed." That menu included the ability to accommodate an orchestra, but the flexibility to have intimate performances, too. Also, with big named acts coming through, they needed to accommodate amplified music as well.
More seats in the same space was the challenge, and to accommodate what needed to be done, the control booth was placed under some seats much closer to the stage. "The sound guys love it," Kovac says.
The team chose a Yamaha PM5D board with a Meyer Sound Galileo 616 Digital Processor. There are 10 Meyer MICA cabinets, plus four 700-HP subwoofers under the apron, and another five Meyer UPJunior ultracompact VariO loudspeakers on the front apron for good measure.
But don't look for any monitor gear, as there is none, and it's not an oversight. "My perception is, since we don't have a person on staff to run monitors, when we need them, it's better to rent them and the person to run them."
Duggar says that they talked early on with TSG about what speaker system would be put in, how it should be a line array, and where it should go. "On all the projects we do, we don't design the work, but we influence it. We call it ‘proper adult supervision,'" he jokes.
The line arrays were flown, but in a manner where they wouldn't be in the way for more intimate performances. They have a speaker cluster that hangs above the stage in such a way that it's mostly out of site when not in use, but can be brought down easily when they are needed.
In the end, for Duggar, the hall sounds like he thought it would. "Acoustically, it serves well for the events and shows that come through. There's enough variability that it can handle amplified events, too. It's a very performer-friendly room. It's always nice to bring another theater into the world."
An Embarrassment of Riches?
"Somebody used the phrase, ‘kid in a candy store,' but it's bittersweet," Kovac says, adding that it was hard to go from all analog sound to all digital, and he did so with a tinge of regret, as, to his ears, analog sounds better. "But now I've learned the 5D, and it is amazing."
"It's interesting to speak with performers who have played the space before," adds Duggar. "They are very complimentary."
Photos by Edward Duggar
