New Blackbox: What would you want?

[gafftaper]

By the way you really need to bring a theater consultant on board. Architects are wonderful for big buildings but they need the guidance of someone who knows theater AND architecture. It'll cost you a chunk of change, but it's the difference between getting a great building and one that needs remodeling before you take occupancy.

If you don't have a consultant, drop museav a P.M. If he can't do the job himself, I'm sure he can help you find someone in your area to do it.

[Tex]

musaev: The bond money is supposed to cover construction and FF&E. Our operating budget is from a completely different source. One will not affect the other, thankfully.
gafftaper: I have suggested a theatre consultant, but that's about all I can do. Those decisions are above my pay grade! Fortunately, a consultant was used when the new school was constructed last year and I'm almost certain that those plans will be modified to work on our site. The mods should only affect the shop portion where it connects to the school building. It's not as good as having a consultant on this job too, but at least there was some input on the plans.
Thanks guys!

[AdamBair]

If you have to cut, cut things that can be easily added later. Get as much hard wiring in place as you can. Socaplex and dimmers can be added later, upgrading your electrical service is much harder. Paths to run cables from booth to backstage are easier if built in. Accessible structural rigging points are always nice, and don't let the AVAC guys take over your over grid space.

Get quality that can be expanded upon wherever possible. A small cheap lightboard or sound board might be fine for now, but will be hrder to justify upgrading in 5 years, then it would be to justify buying more dimmers and mics.