Arena audio/video system up for bids

CEDAR RAPIDS - The City Council is seeking bids for $2.7 million worth of audio and video systems for the new convention center and the renovated arena next door.

The setup will feature an assortment of video screens outside and inside the buildings, beginning with two 21-by-42-foot exterior screens on the side of the arena that faces Interstate 380, project manager Frew Nations Group's Steve Bauer said this week.

In addition, the video equipment will include an exterior marquee on the First Avenue NE side of the convention complex - similar to one across the street at Theatre Cedar Rapids - as well as an exterior video board near the convention center and arena ticket office.

Inside, the facilities also will feature video boards above the ticket office; a large video wall in the convention center lobby; a second video wall on the second floor outside the convention center and arena; and a wide assortment of video monitors in the convention center, its meeting rooms and the concession areas outside the arena, Bauer said.

Inside the arena, the package calls for four large video panels, one for each corner of the arena. The four can be configured together in the center of the arena for sports events, Bauer said.

He said the convention center and arena also will feature a video production room that's not unlike a control room at a local TV station.

“This whole system is going to be state of the art, it's going to be integrated across all the functions of the facility and it's going to be spectacular when it's done,” he said.

BAI LLC, an acoustics and video consulting firm in Austin, Texas, is working on the Cedar Rapids project.

According to its website, the company has worked on convention centers in Hartford, Conn., West Palm Beach, Fla., Atlanta, Ga., Mobile, Ala., Orlando, Fla., and Salt Lake City, Utah, and on performing arts centers in Atlanta, Ga., and at the universities of Oklahoma, North Carolina, Indiana and Central Washington.

Cedar Rapids' convention center and arena project is an $85 million one that is taking place along with the $45 million renovation of the city-owned hotel next door.

The entire venue will be known as The DoubleTree by Hilton at the U.S. Cellular Center when it opens in June.