Advent Lutheran Church in Boca Raton, Florida was originally built
in 1970. The Sanctuary is an "A" shaped building, 90 feet long, 60
feet wide, and 45 feet tall. It is held up by large glue-lam beams
in 15 foot centers. The focus of the front of the Sanctuary is a
40 foot cross surrounded by stained glass which covers the entire
front wall of the church.
By 1995, it was time for a major renovation of the Sanctuary to
increase seating space, add a new and larger narthex, add a
bathroom, add a larger sacresty, brighten up the color scheme, add
some windows to let more light in, install a new sound system,
install additional lighting, and install a lighting
controller.
The following is a list of general building requirements for the
renovation of Advent Lutheran Church:
The existing pews will be removed and re-furbished
The walls of the two small Sacristies on either side of the
front platform will be torn out to expand the width of the front
platform
A new Sacristy will be built at the right front corner of the
Sanctuary
The existing wall between the Narthex and the Sanctuary will
be torn out to expand the Sanctuary into the old Narthex and make
a new cry room
A large new Narthex and a restroom will be built at the rear
of the Sanctuary
The entire Sanctuary will be painted a lighter color
All air-conditioning systems will be replaced with new "quiet"
units (Note: the new units are NOT "quiet".)
Existing front platform will be torn out and a new larger,
higher, wider front platform with steps the whole way across will
be constructed
Entire front platform and all aisles will have porcelain tile
(Note: The Choir Director thinks this is a great idea - lots of
echo. The Sound Man thinks it is a bad idea - lots of echo.)
Front row of pews will be removed to make room for the larger
front platform
Organ console will be relocated from the loft to a "pit"
behind the altar at the center of front platform
The choir will be relocated from the loft to the front
platform, against the front wall, on either side of the organ,
with three levels of risers and a low privacy wall in front of the
choir
Loft will have additional seating (where the choir and organ
used to be)
The number of architectural lighting fixtures used to light
the front platform will be more than doubled from 15 to 35
Additional theatrical lighting will be added
Existing house lighting is adequate
A completely new sound system will be installed with the main
speaker hung from the ceiling above the front of the platform
Additional speakers will provide sound in the cry room and
Narthex
A large number of microphone jacks and monitor speaker jacks
will be installed at variousl locations
All lighting in the Sanctuary will be connected to a
theatrical dimmer system with 40 dimmers each capable of 20 amps
and a 32 channel controller
Several electric outlets will also be connected to the dimmer
system
Sound / lighting / video control will be relocated to loft
with room for:
Two 24 channel mixers, lighting control, tape decks, CD
player, FM microphone receivers, computer for song words, video
cameras, video recorder, video switcher, follow spot, and some
clear space on counter top
Under-counter mounting of equalizers, compressors,
effects unit, power supplies, hard of hearing transmitter, video
sound mixer, and storage cabinets
Sound equipment storage room will be provided in Sacristy area
with lockable door and storage space for: mikes, cables, mike
stands, music stands, keyboards, instruments, guitar amplifiers,
power amplifier equipment rack, and Contemporary music group's
"road equipment"
All sound equipment will be powered from a dedicated
electrical panel which is equipped with a noise filter and surge
protection
Thermostats will have remote override located near sound
and lighting control (Note: They still do not.)
