Bolivar Richburg Middle / High School Auditorium

The auditorium at Bolivar Richburg is a historical building. The space has many attractive features such as decorative curtains on windows and Detailed woodwork. Though these features are nice, none of these attributes enhance its primary use as a theater. The stage and other aspects of the auditorium were found to be totally outdated for modern performance use. AVL Designs Inc. was contracted to work with the CPL Team in renovating the space into a modern performance auditorium.

Many aspects of the room had to be assessed. The first was the addition of motorized stage rigging. The existing conditions precluded any kind of counterweight system, so we chose to use an ETC fly pipe system on stage to allow access for both adjustments of lighting, use of scenery and other curtains on stage.

There was no ceiling cove to provide front of stage lighting. It was determined that adding a catwalk was impractical. In lieu of a catwalk a motorized truss had to be added. This allows both fixed and motorized lighting fixtures to be positioned in front of the stage to light the pit floor as well as the stage. Side wall tormentor locations were also added to improve lighting angles to the pit area and front of the stage.

An entirely new sound system was designed to provide enhanced coverage of the main seating area, over balcony, and under balcony areas. This is all controlled from a digital audio console that also allows for iPad control. A fully automated day-to-day sound control system was also included.

New HD projection and screens were included, as well as Crestron controls to select video inputs, as well as projector and screen control. All of the extensive window curtains were also included in the renovation. The AVL Design team located a fabric manufacturer that could simulate the original look of these curtains. The Contractor did a spectacular job of implementing that aspect of the project.

Historical chandeliers in the space that utilize candelabra lamps were retrofitted with LED devices. This provides for a higher lighting output while maintaining the look of the historical auditorium.