Radiant Church - Cedar Rapids, IA
August 10, 2020 brought one of the most intense storm systems the state of Iowa has ever seen, known as a derecho. Nearly an hour of 70 mph sustained winds with gusts estimated at 140 mph battered Iowa, tore roofs off of buildings, destroyed farms, and took out power and cell phone towers that remained out for weeks. Radiant Church (formerly First Assembly of God) in Cedar Rapids, IA was among the buildings significantly damaged, with part of the roof coming off, pouring water into their 1200 seat main auditorium and lobby.
Pastor Brian Pingel and the Radiant Church team decided to make a best of a bad situation and rebuild the space with both aesthetic and technical upgrades, bringing both spaces up to date and more functional for modern ministry. A nearly 25-year history working with the church made calling Vantage Pro an easy choice to rebuild and upgrade the audio, video, and lighting systems. With a deep understanding of both their history and where there new vision was taking them, the Vantage Pro team was able to update their newly rebuilt facility with audio, video, and lighting systems to meet their new vision, as well as improve the acoustical response of their spaces.
The 15-year-old speaker system was replaced with a L-Acoustics A-Series system with A15i’s as the main left and right PA, A10i speakers as side fills, and KS21i subwooferss, all powered by LA4x amplified controllers. Their recently upgraded Allen & Heath mixers survived the storm, so their Allen & Heath dLive C3500 console and CDM48 stage box with ME-1 personal mixers were redeployed to FOH, and their SQ-7 resumed duties mixing broadcast. Shure PSM 300 wireless in ears and ULXD wireless mics were also able to be redeployed. New Kinetics acoustical absorption panels ensured the room was able to bring out the best of this new and improved audio system by taming acoustical challenges that had existed for years.
The entire visual of the auditorium was reshaped as most of the walls needed to be removed due to water damage. The stage space was reshaped with theatrical curtains on track instead of drywall, allowing for more flexibility of moving risers and other gear to and from backstage, and giving more acoustical absorption to the stage area. Their Absen Acclaim 3.8 LED video wall also survived the damage, so that 18’ x 10.1’ LED wall was redeployed center stage. All of the lighting raceways had been filled with water, The Light Source MegaBattens were used to replace the (3) 72’ raceways over the main floor, and (2) 48’ MegaBattens created new lighting locations over the stage. Stage lighting was all replaced with LED fixtures, including Chauvet Ovation F-145 Fresnels for front lighting, Ovation P-56FC for top lighting, and an assortment of Chauvet Rogue R2x Wash and Spot moving lights and Chauvet DJ Core 3x3 and COLORband T3BT for scenic and effect lighting. The stage lighting is complimented by their new ChromaQ Inspire RGBW house lights, controlled with an Interactive Technologies Cue Server and Chamsys MagicQ MQ80.
Most of the broadcast audio and video systems survived the storm, but had been utilized in other parts of the building during the 15-month rebuild. An existing Ross Carbonite Black Solo switcher, Ross NK Router, and Hitachi Z-HD5000 and Marshall Electronics POV cameras were all redeployed as the backbone for their rebuilt broadcast video system. A new Clearcom wired communication system was added, as was additional infrastructure to allow for different locations for the cameras.
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