Ballroom - To Do List

This page represents a list of work to be done on the Omni Commons ballroom specifically (not the whole building).

• It is a work in progress.

Overview

• The ballroom represents the greatest potential income resource for the Commons in terms of event rentals. The sooner the physical infrastructure in the ballroom is brought up to code, and the A/V production infrastructure improved / professionalized, the more rentable the room and therefore the more financially secure the Omni Commons as a whole will be. This document intends to provide an overview of the work remaining to be done.

• This page itemizes only the work remaining to be done, but an astounding amount of physical work has already been done on the ballroom from August-September 2014. Core ballroom volunteers were from Sudo Room, FNB, CCL, and BAPS. Shout-outs to Sean L., Maximillian (FNB), Mary W., TJ, Oskar, Rhodey, Ben B., Patrik D. After a spending-freeze-induced hiatus, beginning in Jan 2015 work will be continued in the ballroom in order to make it rentable.

To facilitate participation and focus volunteer effort, ballroom work can be divided into three areas:

• Building code compliance and use permit-related physical construction and improvements. Examples:
  • Fire Prevention Life & Safety Code Compliance - Example: Installing Exit signs, emergency lighting, extinguishers, panic bars, etc
  • Use Permit compliance - Example: Fabricating Soundproofing for roof skylights.
  • Accessibility compliance: CA ADA for ballroom & adjacent bathroom in cafe.
  • Health compliance: Specifically referring to wetbar/kitchenette in ballroom along shattuck, if that is going to be used for coffee, food prep or anything other than booze

• Production-related audio / visual enhancements:
  • Ballroom infrastructure for: Sound Amplification, Mixing, Recording, Data (wired & wireless). Includes means to patch from stage-right balcony & shattuck-side mezzanine as required.
  • Passive acoustics: installing Sound diffusion (echo reduction), via:
    • bookshelves/library to south wall (moving up from basement)_
    • install deadening material across corners (a la bass traps)
  • Lighting: around ballroom, and onto stage
  • Cinema projection / production needs (celluloid & digital): secure installation of projectors, booth(?), quality screen / wall area

• Booking & working ballroom with paid & subsidized events
  • this currently managed by the awesome 'Commons' and 'Booking' Working Groups

Remaining code-compliance work to ballroom

• 1. More new electrical EMT conduit & wire pulled to:
  • Ballroom mezzanine, above top landing of SE staircase (Shattuck-side) from ballroom floor, for
    • Emergency Exit Sign w/ integrated emergency lighting, and
    • a permanent light w/ switch, to illuminate the dark staircase

• 2. Modern exit sign fixtures w/ integrated emergency lighting ('bug eyes') installed to:
  • Above the double-doors opening to the street on Shattuck, leading to the ballroom
  • Ballroom mezzanine, above top landing of SE (Shattuck-side) staircase from ballroom floor.

• 3. Tagged, current Class-ABC 5lb Fire extinguishers installed to:
  • Ballroom Mezzanine, near top landing of SE (sSattuck-side) staircase from ballroom floor
  • Ballroom Mezzanine, near top landing of SW (stage-side) staircase to ballroom floor
  • Near NW exit from ballroom, ie towards rear of cafe

• 4. Panic bars and panic-bar-friendly electronic (fob-operable) door locks - installed to the following doors:
  • Both sets of ballroom double-doors leading to Shattuck on East side
  • Double-doors on NE corner of ballroom leading to cafe
  • Single wide door on NW corner of ballroom leading to back of cafe

• 5. Door-closers installed atop all main doors to ballroom, including:
  • NE double-doors to Cafe
  • NW large door: from Cafe (this is technically in the cafe, but is the only door.)
  • both sets of double-doors to ballroom's Shattuck entrance
  • SE door to basement
  • W door to Sudo Room

• 6. Soundproofing:
  • New soundproofing: Removable skylight covers fabricated & hauled up to / installed on roof. Skylights currently represent greatest potential source of ballroom-generated noise leaking out to neighborhood.
    • This is a somewhat big project as the skylights are roughly 5'x10' and there are several. These large covers need to be fabricated and brought up to the roof somehow (crane?). Also they will be quite heavy, so probably a system in which they can perhaps slide into place (say, on tracks) should be installed to roof. Skylight covers need to be weatherproof.

• • New sort-of soundproofing: Finish installing bookshelves & library from basement to south wall of ballroom (floor & mezzanine).
    • The entire south wall has no insulation so sound bleeds out badly here.
    • The books & bookshelves will provide a bit soundproofing here but also, sound diffusion.

• • Improvements / finishes to existing shattuck-facing soundproofing (window baffles):
    • for the large multi-pane 'half-circle' window on the mezzanine:
      • install hand-operable wall-mounted fixtures/brackets to hold panes of this large window baffle system tightly in place. Currently the individual baffle pieces are fit into place and screwed directly into the wall around the perimeter - we need to replace the woodscrews system with something more permanent / less damaging
    • fixing of at least