SUNY Oneonta’s Goodrich Theater

Erdman Anthony has completed numerous projects under an MEP engineering backdrop term agreement with SUNY Oneonta, including a lighting project at Goodrich Theater. Stage and house lighting and the associated wiring were not part of prior renovations at the theater, and they were creating unsafe conditions.

The scope of the initial study revolved around the following four areas:

• The house lights over the auditorium

• The stage lighting dimmers and control circuits throughout the stage area and over the auditorium

• The lights for working onstage between performances

• The “blue light” circuits for safe movement of personnel backstage during performances

We completed the study of those areas with assistance from a theater lighting subconsultant and then prepared a document summarizing potential upgrades, with opinions of probable construction costs, to improve the performance lighting systems and the house lighting systems.

Ultimately, the university’s officials decided to pursue only stage lighting work due to budget limitations. We completed the design and provided construction administration services with help from a theater lighting and rigging subconsultant. That entailed replacing dimming and distribution raceways, providing additional circuiting to the catwalks at the front of the house, and providing motorized lighting for the theater’s proscenium arch.

The 487-seat theater now has 192 dimming and 12 relay lighting circuits that are updated and improve the venue’s overall functionality.