PROJECT HISTORY RENOVATION AND RESTORATION VICTORIA THEATER RENOVATION DAYTON, OHIO Architects: Edward Durell Stone Associates Owner: Victoria Theater Association The Victoria Theater on Main Street consists of a Second Empire building constructed in 1890, and a 1915 auditorium and stagehouse. The interior of the 1890 building and the entire stagehouse were replaced and the auditorium renovated and restored to create a state-of-the-art facility. The renovated facility includes dance rehearsal studios, and offices as well as the 1,200 seat auditorium.

OAA performed an acoustical evaluation of the auditorium prior to renovation. These tests confirmed complaints of poor intelligibility in certain seats in the orchestra. The problem was traced to delayed sound reflection off the high ceiling area above the proscenium. OAA specified corrective finishes to control these problem reflections and be visually compatible with this highly visible ornamental plaster area. In a similar manner OAA prepared recommendation for finishes in the renovated theater to assure appropriate reverberation, promote useful reflections and eliminate echo.

Special doors and constructions were specified to control the penetration of street noise and recommendation prepared to assure that the new mechanical system is quiet. Sirens of passing emergency vehicles are no longer heard in the theater. Acoustical criteria for the mechanical system were prepared based on the theater size and use. The replacement mechanical system design was thoroughly analyzed by OAA to determine the likely noise level in the theater. Additional noise control measures were then recommended to the mechanical engineers to assure that the acoustical resulting theater has a very low mechanical noise level of NC-20.