Reading the Blueprint

Questions and answers about the sanctuary renovation and organ replacement which appeared in the May 23, 2004, issue of Steeple Notes.

Will we be able to hear better once the sanctuary renovations are complete? If we can't, a whole lot of experts will have been wrong and a whole lot of money will have been wasted. How confident are we that sound will be improved? Extremely confident. The Jaffe-Holden Company has an excellent reputation. The acoustical improvement technology is not an off-the-shelf system, but one that has been designed specifically for our building. We have heard such systems in concert halls and churches and have been amazed. Why didn't we just harden all of the surfaces? We carefully considered that route. But it would have required an incredible amount of demolition and a much longer time out of the sanctuary. Besides, nobody could guarantee a percentage of improvement. So what has Jaffe-Holden recommended? Their answer is a new electronic system involving the marriage of software, multiple speakers and sophisticated electronic equipment. Every independent consultant tells us this is the way to go. Does the system work primarily through a process of amplification? No. The system is designed to lengthen the reverberation time of the sounds produced. Reverberation has more to do with sound quality than does amplification. Will we still have something akin to the old "public address system"? Yes, a brand new system will be installed, but will be integrated into the electronic acoustics software, meaning that the voices of speakers will be clarified, even as they are amplified. Will these "multiple speakers" be offensively visible? No. They will be small, innocuous and relatively well hidden. Will the installation of the system require a lot of rewiring? Most certainly. But we have not addressed wiring issues at any time during the last half century. We expect that installing a new system will require overhauling and upgrading the present system. That sounds like a lot of work. Which explains why scaffolding will be erected all over the sanctuary and we will be worshiping in the CLC for nearly three months. In the midst of worrying about problems with hearing, is anybody worrying about problems with seeing? Yes. While we have the scaffolding in place, we will upgrade the lighting. We will preserve the present fixtures (in order to maintain the architectural integrity of the sanctuary), but we will greatly increase the quality and quantity of light available to us from other light sources (largely hidden from the eyes of the worshiper). We will also increase our ability to control and adjust lighting, depending upon the hour of the day or the mood of the service.