The district’s board of trustees approved the purchase of the system at its April 26 meeting after a presentation from the facilities department that detailed issues with the auditorium.
Since the auditorium’s opening in 2006, students and staff have reported poor acoustics, Chief Operations Officer Greg Suttle told the board. Part of the poor sound is due to the brick panels lining the walls of the auditorium. Because the panels are parallel to one another, sound bounces back and creates an echo, Suttle added.
BAi Inc., an acoustics consultant company, evaluated the auditorium and determined that the shape of the walls also contributed to the sound quality, according to meeting documents. While one solution would have been correcting the walls through construction, the most cost-effective choice was the installation of a sound system.
The acoustic enhancement system will include 77 ceiling speakers, 25 wall speakers, four subwoofers and 16 microphones above and in front of the stage, according to meeting documents.
Suttle said that once the system is installed, it will deliver sound “in such a manner that it would imitate a performance space that has good acoustics.”
The project, which costs just over $701,500, will also include 1,800 square feet of acoustic panels to prevent sound from bouncing off of the bricks. The district’s 2021 bond for the performing arts will pay for the new system.
