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INSTALLATIONS
High School
Auditorium Gets
High-Tech
Facelift
By ErinBlakemore
Front and side lighting positions were added, requiring close coordination
between acoustical clouds, fixtures, loudspeakers and catwalks.
Tim Hamilton, lead tech on the renovation
One-hundred and ninety-two circuits were distributed over the catwalks and the stage.
32 PLSN february 2007
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Complete refurbishment, acoustic
overhaul and state-of-the-art lighting
and video installations: it sounds
like improvements made for a theatrical
company of national significance, not a
high school auditorium in Kentwood, Mich.
But sometimes star treatment is found in
strange places — and East Kentwood High
School’s refurbished high school now contains
technology and planning that puts it
on par with many of the country’s top performance
venues.
Multifaceted — and Outdated
Originally built in the late 1960s, the
Fine Arts Auditorium at East Kentwood
High School primarily serves a high school
population of more than 2,500, providing a
home for the school’s choral concerts, theatrical
productions, band concerts and even
a “Battle of the Bands.” However, the space
has taken on larger significance for the community
of Kentwood, which watches a busy
slate of national and regional performances,
from orchestral music to jazz to touring
productions of operas, such as Carmen, and
musicals. “We even had a circus in here one
time, complete with elephants,” notes Rick
Westers, who has taught production at East
In order to reverse the toll of decades of
decay, the facilit y was stripped down to
four walls and completely overhauled.
Kentwood High for more than 20 years in addition
to serving as a freelance sound engineer
in the Kentwood area.
But time was not kind to the Fine Arts Auditorium,
which had become tired, outdated
and more than a little worn down. Given its
diverse functions and the opportunity for
hands-on learning in a bona fide production
environment at the high school, taxpayers
and the school district approved funding for
a complete renovation and refurbishment of
the Fine Arts Auditorium, unlike the “bandaid”
approach adopted — and unfortunately
afforded — by other school districts. In order
to reverse the toll of decades of decay, the
facility was stripped down to four walls and
completely overhauled.
Designed by GMB Architects & Engineers
of Holland, Mich., the new facility was
designed with acoustics in mind — Michigan-based
acoustics and technical systems
design firm Acoustics By Design was
on board, and lead tech Tim Hamilton, CTS
worked with Westers, the architects and a
team of specialists to help design the facility’s
innovative components, from sound to
video to lighting.
Lighting Helps New Complex Shine
After the innovative acoustics were complete,
it was time to address the stage magic
— lighting. The lighting system was in dire
need of expansion; in fact, the old system
consisted of only one lighting position and
several stage electrics. Light fixtures were
old and run-down, while the dimming system
was outdated from the perspectives of
both performance and control protocol. But
the biggest lighting obstacle for the East
Kentwood Fine Arts Center was to be found
above the stage — the house catwalk was
positioned too close to the stage. This presented
a lighting quandary:
the existing fixtures
were located at too steep
of an angle to the front of
the stage, and it was virtually
impossible to light
anything on the floor upstage
with the current catwalks
in place.
Undaunted by the challenges of the existing
catwalk system, Acoustics By Design,
GMB Architects & Engineers and high school
representatives began to brainstorm. Their
first decision: abandon the existing catwalks
and remove the room’s ceiling in order to
address crucial questions of lighting design.
The renovated space would call for an
entirely new catwalk system that allowed
access from both sides of the room. Front
and side lighting positions and followspot
locations were added in order to expand the