Raise the Hammer

I was the Assistant General Manager when Hamilton Place opened in 1973. I started there when there was only 1 person on staff, Geo McPherson the GM. The building was designed by Trevor Garwood Jones of Hamilton who also designed the Convention Centre and the Art Gallery. The real genius on the team was Russell Johnson a sound consultant from the USA. Russell insisted that the interior walls be constructed from bricks from the Ohio valley that had a a special acoustical quality. The bricks were built in a pyramid design to deflect sound in over 40 directions. The balconies were built away from the walls to allow sound to circulate around the room, this also allowed us to hang banners or drapes that could be lowered to absorb sound in loud shows that used several mics. When the Philharmonic played the banners whent back up into the ceiling to allow sound to bounce off the walls. Russell would not use carpet in the Great Hall because it absorbs sound. The same with the backs of the seats which have a hard surface. The wood structures on either side of the stage and the curved wooden canopy above the stage could be moved to direct sound. When we first opened there was a speaker under every two seats to create a surround sound and to create interesting sound effects. These were removed because they operated with the house sound system and most shows traveled with their own sound system. The sound engineer had an ope3n booth in the middle of the seating area so that he could hear the same sound as the audience. It was later removed again because most shows had their own sound systems. Lastly the Great Hall is a building unto itself. When you enter the Great Hall yo walk through a double set of doors 5 or 6 feet apart. The area between the two walls were empty and again designed to enhance the sound. Sorry for the length of this piece.