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| City Hall overhaul |
| by Joy Zaccaria |
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July 7, 2008
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Bringing democracy into the touch panel age, Hoffman Video Systems of Glendale, CA, has introduced the city of Pasadena, CA, to electronic voting as part of the significant improvements to City Hall's recent technology infrastructure and AV equipment upgrades.
Built in 1927, City Hall stands as the dominant building in the Pasadena Civic Center and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its California Mediterranean architecture. But the original reason for the major overhaul was to make the historic facility seismically sound.
"The city declared the need for a $120 million earthquake retrofit," said Rob Shepherd, president of Hoffman Video Systems. "A moat was dug around the building and filled with concrete to isolate the structure from the ground and protect it from the effects of an earthquake. Along with the structural improvements, they refurbished on the inside. It was a massive project."
AV improvements included the integration of audio conferencing, touch panel voting system, speech reinforcement, and large screen displays for the audience -- all of which respect the integrity of the historic landmark. Hoffman chose central components from AMX to simplify the system, make it easy to automate and use.
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Constant Use
Before the overhaul, all the AV equipment in the facility had been purchased piecemeal, so it was difficult to operate the system. "The city was looking for a user-friendly system that was icon driven," said Shepherd. "Now, anyone could come in and operate the system."
The room is used almost daily by Pasadena's various planning, park, and recreation commissions, plus the city council meets once a month and other groups use the facility as well. Hoffman customized the room for each group -- using the touch panel, a committee can activate the system for the way they use it.
"That was a big deal for them," said Shepherd. "Everybody uses the room, so their main concern was making it as easy as possible for the people on the committees. We adjusted the system for the amount of people that are participating in that meeting and also the levels for the audio on the microphones for each member."
In the past, the audience was not able to participate in meetings because the presentations were geared toward city council. Now, the material is viewable on the 63-inch displays. The room is also equipped with Atlas Sound ceiling loudspeakers.
The system implemented in the chamber features an AMX NI-4100 NetLinx Integrated Controller and 12 seven-inch Modero touch panels. A touch panel is installed at each councilmember's seat, allowing them to mute and un-mute their AKG gooseneck microphone and request permission to speak.
From the touch panel, they can also select and view video sources and feeds, such as a video, PowerPoint presentation, or the ceiling-mounted ELMO visual presenter. There is also a PC mode on the touch panel that gives them access to the Internet so they can access the meeting agenda and other documents.
The touch panels actually became a design challenge for the installation. "The original spec called for a four-inch touch panel that would be mounted within the actual dais," said Hoffman's Al Martinez, the engineer and lead on the project. "The millwork designers did not take into account the actual size of the mount, so they did not fit. We went with the five-inch AMX Modero touch panels desktop type of voting panel instead of mounted."
The chamber's AMX control system handles the iVote software, which simplifies and streamlines the voting process for the council and its administrative support. When a councilmember casts a vote using his assigned touch panel, the vote is automatically logged and tabulated, providing real-time results as well as an auditable paper trail
. Prior to iVote, raised hands were counted as votes.
To provide a means to control the flow of meetings, the city clerk and assistant city clerk each operate a 12-inch Modero touch panel, which enables them to select which video source is displayed on each of the chamber's four Samsung 63-inch plasma displays. The clerk tallies the votes via the touch screens along with atmospheric conditions like the lighting of the room.
Broadcast Ready
Government access cable channel KPAS broadcasts all the city council meetings for Pasadena. "They have a camera control system there that we installed as part of the system," said Martinez. "They're able to get different shots with four cameras in the room, mix them in, and send them out on the cable feed."
Across the hall is a small control room for the broadcasts. It houses a Panasonic switcher, Mackie audio mixer, Compix CG, Extron universal signal processors, Sony monitors and DVCAM VTR, and Tektronix test and measurement equipment. Vaddio WallVIEW systems with Sony PTZ cameras are used in the council chamber.
"Through that system they can control anything in the room and switch anything from an off-site facility," said Shepherd. "This maintains the integrity of the room and makes it easier to use."
MORE INFO
AKG akg.com
AMX amx.com
Atlas Sound atlassound.com
Compix compixmedia.com
ELMO elmousa.com
Extron Electronics extron.com
Mackie mackie.com
Panasonic panasonic.com/broadcast
Samsung samsung.com
Sony sony.com/government
Tektronix tektronix.com
Vaddio vaddio.com
Teamwork And Timelines
The planning for the renovations started in December 2006. One of the senior council members was retiring in April 2007, so that became the de facto finish date. Plus, the mayor promised its completion by this time.
Teamwork made it happen. "Everyone, including Clark Construction Group, Dynalectric [electrical contactor], and all the different subcontractors pushed forward to make the deadline," said Al Martinez from Hoffman Video Systems. "It took a four to five-man crew working 12-15 hour days for about a month to accomplish the task."
The teamwork was pivotal on this high-profile municipal project. "There's a lot of hand-holding required because you've got city employees and the mayor and city council all expecting to use this room," added Hoffman's Rob Shepherd. "There's a lot of communications, reassurance, and working with the end users -- from the city engineers to the planning commission to the historic commission."
Keep Your Integrity
Maintaining the historical integrity of the building was a huge priority, which posed some challenges for the new equipment. After all, it wasn't customary to build walls strong enough to mount 63-inch flat panel displays back in 1927. "The latham and plaster wall has no structural integrity to support them," explained Martinez.
The design specified for the plasmas to mount on a swing arm, which creates a tremendous amount of stress when it's fully extended. Hoffman worked with the general contractor to engineer a mount that was positioned inside the wall, welded to the I-beams, and bolted to the brick structure. As a result, the displays are now secure and earthquake proof.
The ornate and intricate ceiling also posed a challenge for the construction crew and consequently Hoffman Video. Per the historical society's instruction, installation of the visual presenter mounted in the ceiling had to wait for it to be replicated to match the room's original ceiling.
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