Practical design

Alexandria to get lasting performing arts center that won't break the bank

By Sam Barnes

Project manager Greg Corbett has begun to see the intelligence behind the intricate design elements of the $8.3 million Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center in Alexandria.

"They've done a fine job maximizing a limited amount of space with a solid structure that will stand the test of time," said Corbett, who works for general contractor Ratcliff Construction Co. Inc. of Alexandria. "It's going to be a beautiful structure."

The architectural team of Witsell, Evans & Rasco of Little Rock, Ark., and Ashe-Broussard-Weinzettle of Alexandria was faced with a limited budget and minimal physical space when planning began eight years ago on the 600-seat facility, which is now halfway complete.

advertisement

"Our firm was invited to Alexandria to interview for what was then thought to be a small, 300-seat replacement theater for the City Park Players," said Terry Rasco, a principal with Witsell, Evans & Rasco. "But a study revealed they needed a much-larger theater to accommodate multiple size performances and groups. That significantly raised the price tag.

"A building for a civic purpose of this nature has to be made of more lasting materials, because it's presumably going to be there for a long time. So it's all steel and concrete, brick and stone."

To save money, less expensive materials are used in areas of minimal visibility. Also, precast materials mimic stone in some locations.

The entire theater also had to be built on a small 200 by 200-ft. lot.

"All the blocks in Alexandria are small, so we had to work within those parameters," Rasco added. In fact, no additional parking space was available to accommodate the facility, so "patrons will have to use street parking and city parking lots."

The designer already had experience working with such limitations. It had previously designed the River Oaks Arts Center, catty-corner to the existing site.

The Coughlin-Saunders Foundation felt it made sense to use the firm.

When detail design work on the Coughlin-Saunders structure began at the firm's Little Rock office, designers used their previous experience with designs of similar-sized facilities in Alexandria and Little Rock to meet client demands.

Rasco enlisted the help of Ashe-Broussard-Weinzettle to assist with the construction documents, and also to maintain a presence near the jobsite.

"Their role was less in design and more in construction documents and construction administration," he added. "But they were involved from the very beginning, since all of the meetings were held in Alexandria."

Kevin Broussard, lead designer with Ashe-Broussard-Weinzettle, said the team approach is not uncommon.

"It's more a matter of practicality to always have a local firm involved," he added. When a question arises at the jobsite, the contractor calls Broussard, "not some designer in a remote office in Little Rock."

The jobsite is near the Red River levee in downtown Alexandria at the site of an old department store.

"Although the store had been demolished some time ago, we still had to remove existing brick and concrete foundations when we broke ground in October 2002," Ratcliff's Corbett said. "Fill dirt was then used to raise the entire site area by about 3.5 ft."

Subcontractor L. G. Barcus & Sons Inc. of Kansas City, Kan., drilled 18- and 24-in.-diameter auger cast piles, some reaching as deep as 65 ft., to support the load-bearing masonry and steel structure.

Perhaps most unique early on was the excavation of a 13-ft.-deep hole to accommodate the facility's orchestra pit and instrument storage room. An elaborate drainage system was installed to accommodate water seepage from the nearby river and a heavier concentration of piles and concrete was placed to support the orchestra pit lift.

The hole would have been deeper had the site not already been raised.

"The drainage system consists of 6-in.-diameter perforated pipe topped with gravel," Corbett said. "There's also a drainage mat that was placed against the walls before we backfilled. Basically, the water wicks down into the site drainage system, which goes over to a 15-ft.-deep sump." A sump pump then lifts the water up and out into the city drainage system.

Air Conditioning Appliance Corp. of Alexandria performed the drainage and mechanical installation.

After the walls were in place, crews poured an 8-in.-thick structural concrete slab to support the pit lift. "The lift is essentially a platform that raises and lowers the entire orchestra pit area," Corbett said. The platform can be set at three elevations - at its lowest level for a stage performance, and at its highest level (level with the stage) for an orchestral performance.

Texas Scenic Co. of San Antonio installed the platform, as well as the remainder of the theater's specialty equipment.

Corbett said other underground construction included an air tunnel beneath the theater seating, which is made of concrete containing a water-resistant admixture.

Aboveground work has been dominated by an extensive masonry and steel erection phase.

"This is a hybrid structure," Corbett added. "We had to put up some steel, then the masonry contractor laid the 12-in. block, then the steel guys came back. Some of the beams bear on steel columns and in other places the beams rest on masonry." Steel trusses measuring 90 ft. long support the theater roof.

The masonry-steel configuration allowed the architect to specify steel only where necessary, primarily in the stage area, in order to minimize expense. South Louisiana Masonry LLC of Baton Rouge is installing the masonry and Southern Steel Fabricators Inc. of Monroe is fabricating the steel.

Two distinct seating areas within the auditorium are being constructed at a slope and a radius, one beginning near the stage area and the other toward the back half of the theater.

Construction of the rear stadium-style seating, which is supported by concrete risers, has "made this a very demanding job," jobsite superintendent Jeff Robichaux said.

"All these beams are on a radius, and the forms had to be designed and built so that everything fit together," he added.

As support for the risers, a series of concrete columns bear on the auger cast piles and a series of concrete beams bear directly on the columns. All of the concrete is being supplied by TXI of Alexandria.

To maximize space, the seating extends over the exterior plaza area and over interior concessions areas in the lobby.

Replacing elaborate ceilings with a mixture of black paint and acoustical "clouds" also saved money.

The ceiling of the lobby is open-celled without ceiling tiles. Instead, a grid system is used with everything above it painted black. In the auditorium, acoustical clouds will be supported from the ceiling and everything is painted black above that.

Two structural steel catwalks are supported from the ceiling.

The exterior of the building blends with the nearby River Oaks Art Center, complete with a similar brick veneer interspersed with some precast stone elements, as well as glass and glazing.

Windows are predominately found in the entrance areas, not in the working areas such as the loading dock or the mechanical rooms.

A simple roof structure installed by Brown Industries Inc. of Farmerville will consist of insulation board with a two ply system.

When completed in April, the new Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center will have three main entrances, one facing the River Oaks Arts Center and the others facing bordering streets.

Rasco said the close proximity and easy access between the new facility and the arts center will allow patrons to share both facilities.

"Inside the new facility, there will be an office for the stage manager, women's and men's chorus rooms and dressing areas, all partitioned by drywall with a masonry perimeter," he added.

Useful Information:

To see similarly designed theaters across the country, go to:
http://www.usitt.org/

For more information about the Alexandria arts community, visit:
http://www.louisiana-arts.org/