The 150,000 sq.ft NASCAR Hall of Fame opened in May to commemorate the history and heritage of NASCAR. Designed to educate and entertain race fans and non-fans alike, it features numerous interactive exhibits, artefacts, a Hall of Honour, 278-seat Belk High Octane Theatre and NASCAR Media Group-operated broadcast studio.
The Electrosonic contribution to the NASCAR Hall of Fame helps bring fans closer to the sights and sounds of the sport from the Belk High Octane Theatre to the displays in front of the exhibits. Electrosonic began work on the project in late 2008 during the final design phase. The company supplied a wide variety of imaging technology for over 100 complex linear media and interactive displays and features, including LCD and plasma displays, single and triple DLP projection, MicroTiles and the exterior LED board. Electrosonic also deployed RFID technology to customise each visitor's experience.
"Our entire team consisted of race fans, so the AV systems were built for race fans by race fans," notes Electrosonic senior sales consultant Bryan Abelowitz. "We deployed almost every kind of video and speaker technology imaginable."
Visitors are treated to an intense 12-minute history of NASCAR in the 278 seat Belk High Octane Theatre where Electrosonic has enabled an impressive triple projection featuring Christie DLP projectors onto the curved 64ft wide screen and more than 10,000 watts of sound. The cars rumble across the screen from one end to the other giving the audience the feel of being there.
Another attention-getting display awaits them as they exit to The Great Hall, the main level's huge open area, where a 14x18ft Fan Billboard is composed of 252 high resolution Christie MicroTiles and driven by a Christie Vista Spyder X20. Supported by another high-powered sound system the Fan Billboard displays live video, including races, and pre-produced media; it also has an interactive game component.
"Electrosonic provided excellent service from the initiation of their involvement in the project. Their management team was highly responsive to the Owner's needs. Electrosonic is a trust-worthy company with the technical know-how to complete a complicated project in a short amount of time," commented Kathleen Drake, project manager at the City of Charlotte.
Gary Barnes was Electrosonic's project manager for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Tony Peugh and Jim Funke were the commissioning engineers and Vince Conquilla the site supervisor.
(Jim Evans)
