Every system has a point of failure, but in this case, it would be hard to find." For added security, color-coded jacks were used whenever possible. "We created a spanning tree loop for the signal path with switches at stage left and right, in the dimmer room, and at followspot positions. "It was definitely belt and suspenders," adds Loudenburg.
The challenges did not end there, and - mindful of the difficulties the building had experienced in the past - the new system had to include a high level of redundancy. Faced with the dilemma, the design team came up with the ingenious answer in the form of vertically mounted passive-patch boxes. "In the old system, the load cables entered through the top of the dimmers and were not long enough to work with the vertical Sensor configuration," explains project manager Dan Obenhaus. "The paperwork and approvals took over a year, but we pulled off the installation in a month."Īlthough the fixtures and the conduits to the dimmer room were in place, the equipment "transplant" provided some unique challenges. "The bidding and proposal stage of jobs is getting longer and more complex," says general manager Rick Loudenburg.
The job of tearing out the old dimmers, network, and console, and replacing it with ETC product fell to the team at Barbizon Lighting of the Rockies. A few still remain, and the 2,500-seat Ellie Caulkins Opera House (locally known as the "Ellie") is a perfectly restored example, sitting inside the Performing Arts Complex in downtown Denver, playing host to touring roadshows and local productions.ĭespite extensive front-of-house renovation from 2002 to 2005, the "grand old lady of opera" was burdened with an obsolete and often nonfunctioning lighting-control system. In a state better known for skiing, scenery, and the Broncos, Colorado was once home to 46 opera houses, built to provide the mining communities with cultural enrichment. The Ellie Caulkins Opera House Gets a "Transplant" with Barbizon Lighting and ETC
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