I had a very similar "problem" (feature?) in my theater, in a
PAC built in 1987. My theory about why the choice was made to repeat circuits two or three times around the room is that at the time of construction copper was cheap but control was expensive. In those days lighting contol was
AMX, which was limited to 192 channels, and I would guess that that limit was reached only in high-end (expensive) consoles. [Olde Phartes - please correct me if I'm wrong!]
The good news was that every
circuit, regardless of repeating, was run individually to the
dimmer racks. This meant that two years ago, when my room was upgraded from (failing)
Strand CD80s to
ETC Sensors, the electricians were able to separate all of those repeated circuits. The room went from an OK 140 circuits to a very workable 240 circuits (we left a few infrequently-used circuits doubled to get the install down to 2 1/2 racks).
The cost for the upgrade, including some minor rewiring, racks, 70 2.4K modules (AFMs fill the rest of the racks), 6 6K modules, two
relay modules, an
Ion console, 5 1-port gateways, 1 4-port gateway, a CAT-5 patch bay and a
POE switch, was right around $80K. We did the CAT-5 installation in-house, adding redundant runs from the booth to the
dimmer room and eight other locations around the theater for temporary
DMX through the gateways.
It was a big, positive change for the room, and it made a lot of lighting designers very happy. It was quite expensive, but the cost was justified by the fact that the CD80s were failing at an unmanageable rate, and that the room was booked more than 200 days a year.
If the lighting
system in your theater is generally in working condition, you're not likely to be able to convince anyone to
tackle a project of this scope just to give you more design options. Instead, as others have suggested, figure out how to work with what you've got. You have two more years in the room - why not experiment with different plots and figure out what you like best, and what is most useful and/or flexible for the type of events you have?
As you move out into the world, you'll discover that every
venue has limitations. Raise your
hand if you've got one of those giant aprons with no lighting positions above it! How about a 12' ceiling? Eight dimmers
FOH, one of which hasn't worked for a while?
Strand Centuries or
Altman 1KLs?
Dead-hung electrics? Sketchy
FOH sidelight positions that you need to climb an extension ladder to reach? This list could go on, but you get the idea.
There might be a
venue out there that is exactly right because it was built for the one show that will ever be performed in it, and there was unlimited money to plan, design and outfit it, but if such a space exists it will be a long time before you (or I) get to work in there. In the meantime, be flexible. Be creative. Try something you think will work, then tweak it. Or
throw it out entirely and start again. Especially over the next two years, when you don't have an employer breathing down your neck. If all goes well, you won't get that chance again!
HTH,
Jen
