St. Dominic’s Auditorium

St. Dominic’s Auditorium – Back in Service in Three Days

How we brought St. Dominic’s Pastoral Centre’s auditorium back to life, with a system built to last and to afford

Above the stage at St. Dominic’s Pastoral Centre in Four Roads, Diego Martin, three Latin words run across the wall: Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare. To praise, to bless, to preach. The Dominicans are the Order of Preachers, and their auditorium was built to be heard and seen.

For a number of years it was neither. The stage lights were dark and the sound system was silent.

The problem: a great system, an unsustainable budget

When the centre opened in 2007, the auditorium was equipped to a standard we rarely see in the Caribbean. It had an ETC dimmer rack, top-of-the-line theatrical lighting infrastructure, and a Renkus-Heinz audio system. On day one, it was excellent.

Over time, the ETC dimmer rack stopped working and the audio system needed costly repairs. Both systems were well built, but they were more complex and more expensive to maintain than the centre’s budget could support over the long term. Eventually the entire system, audio and lighting, went down and stayed down.

The centre’s first wish was to repair what they had, and we took that seriously. We love the ETC brand, and we worked directly with ETC to find a repair path. The numbers simply didn’t fit the centre’s budget. So we did what an integrator should do: we laid out the options, and after many site visits we proposed a different approach focused on simplicity and on getting the centre fully working as quickly as possible.

The solution: keep what works, replace what failed

The most cost-effective system is often the one you already own, so we kept everything that still worked:

• All existing lighting fixtures in St. Dominic’s Auditoriumon the front-of-house bar, stage bars and side booms
• The original ETC lighting control
• The existing mixers and sources

We replaced only what had failed.

Lighting. We removed the entire ETC dimmer rack from St. Dominic’s Auditorium and replaced it with a much smaller, simpler system built on Lightronics RE121D dimmers. This was the most labour-intensive part of the job. We identified every circuit, ran new mains cable to the new, smaller rack, and ran it back out to each fixture. Each channel is controlled with simple DMX from the existing ETC control, so the operators kept the interface they already knew.

Audio. We installed a new LCR (left-centre-right) system using powered Electro-Voice loudspeakers:

• Three ETX15P full-range tops
• Two ETX18SP subwoofers

The ETX boxes have built-in DSP, so the processing sits inside the loudspeakers. There’s no separate amplifier rack to fail and less equipment to maintain.

Purchase your own EV ETX speakers right here in Trinidad

Streamline handled the full scope of work, including the electrical, and everything is fully labelled. The project took three days.

The result: the room is earning again

The auditorium is back in regular use and bringing in revenue again. It hosts everything from small parties to productions and school graduations. The cost was significantly lower than a full system replacement. Because we used modern, solid equipment, we expect it to run for years with minimal maintenance or intervention.

For a pastoral centre, a dark auditorium isn’t only an inconvenience. It’s an asset that costs money to keep while earning nothing. Getting it back into service quickly mattered as much as getting it right.

The lesson: design for the whole life of the system

Most of what I write about is poor workmanship: unlabelled cables, no drawings, integrators holding passwords as ransom. This job was different. The original system wasn’t badly installed. It was a very good system, and I could see that the budget wouldn’t be there to maintain it long term.

That means asking whether local support exists, whether parts are available on the island, what a service visit costs, and how long the warranty runs. None of that shows up in the specification sheet, but all of it decides whether the room still works in ten years.

As AVIXA CTS, CTS-D and CTS-I certified professionals, we’re trained to design around the owner’s needs, and long-term cost is one of those needs. We work with any brand, as long as it’s the right fit and the installation is done right.

What to ask before you approve a system

Is your system down? Start with an assessment

If your auditorium, church or hall has equipment that’s down or too expensive to repair, don’t assume the only choice is a full replacement or nothing. Often, as at St. Dominic’s, much of what you have can be kept and brought back to life.

Mike, CTS, CTS-D, CTS-I

Streamline Systems Ltd · El Socorro, Trinidad

Check out this review of the EV ETX speakers