Pikes Peak Center

The Pikes Peak Center is the concert auditorium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It serves as an entertainment, cultural, educational, and assembly center for the citizens of El Paso County, the Pikes Peak region, and the surrounding area.

History

Built by the citizens of El Paso County in 1982 to serve as a regional entertainment and cultural center, the Pikes Peak Center's downtown Colorado Springs location was a piece of the economic rejuvenation action plan for the innercity business quarter.

It opened in 1982 with the Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra (as it was formerly known). The Pikes Peak Center has since achieved international approval for its design and acoustical attributes, and artists and critics have spoken highly in their compliments of the Center. More than 200 concerts are hosted by The Center each year. The proprietor of the The Center is El Paso County, and it is operated by the Colorado Springs World Arena.

Seating

The concert hall features seating from throughout the orchestra, loge, mezzanine and balcony sections. The hall can contain 2,000 seats. There are side box seats at the mezzanine and balcony levels, seat towers can be positioned on stage, and additional seats can be placed on the lift (see "The Stage"). At maximum, there are 1,171 seats on the main floor (Orchestra & Loge), 290 seats on the mezzanine level, and 528 seats on the balcony level.

Acoustics

The Pikes Peak Center's El Pomar Great Hall was designed by Russell Johnson's firm, Artec Acoustic Consultants (also responsible for the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center's Eugene McDermott Concert Hall), and has several different acoustic control systems. In addition to on-stage curtains, there are retractable curtains along the walls of the hall that can be lowered to absorb sound. These curtains tend to be lowered in the summer, and retracted in the winter, when the audience will be wearing heavier clothing and therefore absorbing more sound. The speaker bank above the proscenium can be set at different angles, and the ceiling section above the Orchestra seats has a range of motion of 14 feet (4.3 m), and is moved to reflect sound to the Orchestra and Loge seats when a smaller audience is anticipated, or raised for full sound dispersion when a large audience is anticipated. The seat towers can also be positioned around the stage for optimal acoustic performance. There are also four ceiling panels over the stage that can be raised, lowered, or tilted vertically to change the acoustics of the hall.

Equipment loading and transport

Next to stage left are the loading docks which can accept two tractor-trailers simultaneously. Loading is done through two detached 12-foot-wide 10-foot-high (3.7 m × 3.0 m) overhead doors. Cargo then turns 90 degrees to the right to go to the stage. An 8-foot-wide 8-foot-high 12-foot-deep (2.4 m × 2.4 m × 3.7 m) freight elevator is positioned in the delivery area. The elevator provides access to the basement levels for transportation of equipment into the orchestra pit area and the choir dressing rooms. Also in the orchestra pit area are extra seats. These are attached to a compressed air hose and floated like a hovercraft onto the lift. The seat towers and other equipment are moved in a similar fashion.

Stage

The proscenium has a maximum opening of 81 by 40 feet (25 m × 12 m), but can be reduced to 34 by 16 feet (10 m × 5 m) with black velour masking. There is a 6-foot-deep (1.8 m) apron. And the working depth of the stage is 52 feet (16 m) from the plaster line. The stage is 116 feet (35 m) wide. The floor of the stage is maple over plywood, over two layers of sleepers, over neoprene blocks. The floor has wonderful resiliency for ballet and other dance mediums. Any kind of nailing or screwing into the floor is forbidden. The frontmost part of the stage is a lift that can be raised to the level of the stage, arranged as a part of a two-tier stage setup, positioned at floor level, or lowered to create an orchestra pit. It can also be lowered to the basement where additional seating and towers can be loaded and transported to stage level. The stage's maximum load is 160 pounds per square foot (780 kg/m²).

Dressing rooms

Directly behind the stage are six individual dressing rooms, each with its own make up station, toilet, sink and shower. The basement level contains two choir dressing rooms. Dressing room "A", with 2,000 square feet (190 m²), is equipped with 24 makeup stations, and dressing room "B", with 1,800 square feet (170 m²), is equipped with 31 makeup stations. Both rooms contain showers, sinks, and toilets. The greenroom is located between the choir dressing rooms and the northern staircase, and is 490 square feet (46 m²).

External links

• Pikes Peak Center Home Page