The oldest building in the Western Hemisphere gets a sound
system.
A twelfth century Spanish
Monastery was disassembled stone by stone and crated and brought by ship to
the new world. It arrived in New York in 1926 but was eventually transported
to Miami in 1952.
The building was
methodically re-assembled on a nursery property in North Miami. It has
become a significant tourist attraction as well as being home to St. Bernard
de Clairvaux Episcopal Church.
When the church needed a
sound system, Sound Planning was contracted for the design and installation
of a system that would provide clear speech reproduction in an all stone
chapel.
The ancient architecture and
character of the building ruled out the use of any visible loudspeakers.
Sound Planning came up with
a novel approach for this application. We were able to modify a JBL column
loudspeaker for horizontal installation.
This speaker was small
enough to be installed inside the altar where it is totally invisible.
The
modification to the loudspeaker enables it to completely cover the chapel
with clear, intelligible sound. Wireless microphones eliminated the need for
any jacks, wiring or penetration of the walls.
The
leadership of the church is pleased with a system that in no way detracts
from the aesthetics of the building.