Super Bowl

Construction crews cram 12 months of work into 8

The general contractor for the $12 million renovation of the 72-year-old Hollywood Bowl said the project was completed in the tight time frame due to advanced procurement of structural steel and the off-site fabrication of a $1.6 million acoustical canopy.

By Paul Napolitano

June turned out to be quite a month at a legendary entertainment venue in Southern California.

The weekend-long Playboy Jazz Festival on June 12-13 was sandwiched between an evening to honor architects, contractors and consultants and a June 9 dedication ceremony for the completion of a $12 million makeover of the Hollywood Bowl.

The focal points of the project were the demolition of the semi-circular band shell (the fifth since the Bowl was first built in 1922), construction of a larger and more sophisticated stage and installation of a $1.6 million acoustic canopy to enhance the audio and lighting quality in the 18,000-seat, outdoor amphitheater. Improvements to artist and public facilities and staff offices were also included in the renovation program.

	The Hollywood Bowl is the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and through the decades has hosted scores of rock groups, including the Beatles. It's also the site of an annual Easter sunrise service (photo courtesy of Milco Constructors).

"The toughest part was getting everything it took to build that thing in the eight months that we had," Jim Munser, project executive of Santa Fe Springs-based Matt Construction, said a week after turning over the Bowl project to the owner, the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation.

Munser said the project would normally take about a year to complete, but its timeline was shortened due to advance procurement of structural steel and long-lead items and the off-site fabrication of a computer-controlled acoustic canopy that is suspended over the new stage.

The Hollywood Bowl is the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and through the decades has hosted scores of rock groups, including the Beatles. It's also the site of an annual Easter sunrise service.

"Because the [band shell] is an irregular shape, getting the steel fabricated and erected was a real challenge," Munser said. "There are no two (structural steel) members that are the same. Lots of different lengths and angles. The number of pieces and parts that went into that thing was unbelievable."

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Matt Construction selected Long Beach-based Milco Inc.-due to its experience erecting steel structures for the entertainment industry-and fabricator S&S Steel, which built the shell's trusses in 2- to 4-ft. sections at its Salt Lake City mill. The sections were built over a five-month period.

A 220-ton crawler crane was used to erect the 10 largest trusses, which range from 140-ft. tall by 60-ft. wide and 40,000 lbs. each to 85 ft. by 42 ft. and 22,000 lbs. each.

Because an underground parking structure is near the band shell site, "we had to stage a larger crane about 100 ft. farther from where we would have liked to have been," said Mike Worrell, Milco's project manager.

	Ironworkers from Local 433 rebuilt the Hollywood Bowl's band shell (photo courtesy of Milco Constructors)

The acoustical canopy's design reflects performance sounds back down to stage level, aiding in orchestra members hearing and harmonization without the assistance of electronic devices. The canopy (designed by Los Angeles-based Mice Creative) is fully adjustable and similar to airfoils, changing according to the number of musicians performing and the style of music being played.

Other key project principals included Hodgetts + Fung Design Associates and executive architects Gruen Associates, (both of Los Angeles), which designed the shell in its original streamline Moderne motif. New York City-based Fisher Dachs Inc. was the theater-planning consultant.

Beck Madson Associates Inc. of Los Angeles served as the project's construction manager and West Sacramento-based Miyamoto International was the structural engineer.

"With the improvements completed, we are now able to support the Bowl's iconic image with state-of-the-art production facilities, ensuring it's future for the next century," said Deborah Borda, president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.