Ballroom - To Do List

Rationale for a 'ballroom readiness' page

• 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, AND the booking/event-volunteering process is further improved, the more rentable the ballroom and therefore the more financially secure the Omni Commons as a whole will be.

• Many individuals and groups would like to put on events in the ballroom that first require aforementioned work towards code compliance and/or better audio & visual infrastructure. Many have offered to volunteer but not all on the same things (A/V production, vs lighting, vs soundproofing, vs electrical, etc.) This page is an attempt to document and thereby help organize the work of all volunteers working on different aspects of ballroom readiness.

• Following a recent spending-freeze hiatus during the last months of 2014, this work on the ballroom is expected to start up again in the ballroom in the second half of January 2015, andother reason why this page would be useful to have for communal reference.

• Although this page itemizes the work still remaining to be done, it should be recognized that an astounding amount of physical work has already been done on the ballroom from August-September 2014. Core ballroom volunteers from that time were from Sudo Room, FNB, CCL, and BAPS. Shout-outs to Sean L., Maximillian (FNB), Mary W., TJ, Oskar, Rhodey, Ben B., Patrik D.

Ballroom-readiness work can be divided up into three main areas:

Building Code-related & Use permit-related compliance - ie, construction-related

• • 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

• 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 one soundproofing baffle panel of the few that close up the 'half-circle' window

Production-related audio / visual enhancements

• Ballroom infrastructure for Sound Amplification, Mixing, Recording, Data (wired & wireless).
  • Includes means to patch between stage-right balcony & shattuck-side mezzanine if/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 paid & subsidized events - IE, prepping for them, working them, & cleaning up before & after

• This process currently managed by the awesome 'Commons' and 'Booking' Working Groups