Our Client
Lowell High School opened its doors in 1831 as the first co-ed public high school in the United States. The school has had many renovations in the last hundred and ninety years and embarked on the latest in 2020. This renovation is projected to be a phased, six year occupied addition/renovation project set to be completed in August 2026.
Project Overview
Lowell High School’s audio visual system has had sporadic upgrades throughout the years but needed a full system upgrade. When the approval came from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to renovate the school, a portion of the budget was allocated for a new audio visual system. The school’s renovation will be completed in four phases over six years. The first was the completion of the Athletic Center.
With the six year timeline, the decision to complete the work in phases was made to be the least disruptive for the students as possible. Phase one started in 2020 and has since been completed. This phase built their new athletic center, including a weight room, cardio room, indoor track, and basketball courts. Each different aspect of the athletic center comes with different audio visual needs. The indoor track and basketball courts required voice projection, loudspeakers with announcement capabilities, and assistive listening. Whereas the weight and cardio rooms required background music, Bluetooth players, loudspeakers, and wall volume controls.
We worked with many partners throughout this phase, a few of which were Biamp, JBL Professional, Middle Atlantic, and Listen Technologies. As well as Wayne J. Griffin, Suffolk Construction, and other associate trades to coordinate the work and get it done timely.
Challenges
We encountered multiple challenges during phase one of the Lowell High School project. Phase one started right after the first stretch of Covid-19 and in the height of the distribution issues. Most products were back ordered in other countries or stuck on boats waiting for trucks to become available to unload. Therefore, we had to adjust our plan of work to install the products we did have and go back when the delayed products eventually arrived. Renovating a school while students are still inside posed another set of problems. We needed to be as quiet as possible and when it was unavoidable, that specific work needed to be completed outside of school hours. This caused some scheduling issues but ultimately, we were able to make everything work out and not disrupt the student’s education.
Results
Lowell High School now has the first phase of their renovation complete with a state-of-the-art athletic center. The students have a brand new center for gym classes and afterschool athletics. The history of the school will live on, and the school will continue to facilitate the education of the students.
By partnering with Pro AV Systems on your next audio-visual project, you can rest assured that the expertise you need to discover the AV solutions you are looking for is always there.
