Township auditorium, technology to get updates
By Dana Casadei
Updates to both the physical aspects and technology elements of the auditorium at Bloomfield Township Hall are officially on their way after the Bloomfield Township board of trustees voted 6-0 in favor of using Lindhout Associates Architect and technology vendor Advanced Lighting & Sound for both projects at their meeting on Monday, September 9.
In total, the renovations that will be completed by Lindhout Associates Architects – who provided the best response to the second Request for Proposal (RFP) – will cost $158,839.
Lindhout Associates Architects is quite familiar with this type of renovation, having worked previously with the city of Brighton on their council chamber renovation and Farmington Hills City Hall.
Renovations will include everything from new paint on the walls, which is currently planned to be grey with a blue accent wall; resurfacing of the oak wood surfaces in the space; replacing both the chairs in the audience and those used by the board; and reframing all of the supervisor portraits in the auditorium to have the same nameplates and frames.
Carrie LeZotte, Bloomfield Township director of Cable & Community Relations, said that the current audience chairs are about 30 years old and that they’re still deciding what chairs to use for the board.
There is some early discussion happening regarding working with local artists and displaying rotating art from them along the back wall as well.
The changes coming will not only influence the physical space but the technology, too.
The technology updates the township are looking to do with Advanced Lighting & Sound is estimated to cost $171,358.
Not only did Advanced Lighting & Sound have the lowest RFP out of those who responded, but they also installed the original video technology in the auditorium and have provided additional studio support to Bloomfield Township and the surrounding communities.
While people won’t be able to necessarily see the updates Advanced Lighting & Sound completes as easily as other auditorium upgrades, they will notice in other aspects, like the sound and video quality, especially for those who watch the meetings and don’t attend in-person.
There will be new lighting, robotic and document cameras, audio support, ADA headsets, a flat-surface podium, and monitors that will replace the current projection system. The board will be getting new iPads too.
LeZotte said that most people won’t really notice the changes being made to the auditorium because they’ll be hidden away and not necessarily obvious. Trustee Neal Barnett disagreed.
“People are going to notice… the entire experience is going to be better, the audio, the video,” he said. “It’s really going to be a tremendous improvement for the residents and everyone up here, too.”
LeZotte said tkhe township hopes everything will be ordered, arrived and installed by the end of 2024 for the auditorium’s renovation and technology updates.
The board supported both motions 6-0, with trustee Stephanie Fakih absent.
