Scope of Work: Design, Procurement and Construction Oversight.
Carver-Hawkeye Arena: LED Display Systems, Scoring, Integrated Digital and Static Signage, Sound Reinforcement System.
Kinnick Stadium: Sound Reinforcement System.

AJP worked with the University of Iowa to design a box car LED center hung scoreboard featuring four video displays, with the two sideline displays measuring 14.6’ high by 26’ wide and the end zone displays at 9.4’ x 16.6’. This creative design highlighted a large-scale and iconic University branding logo. In addition to the primary display, AJP managed the design, RFP documentation and construction oversight for the replacement of multiple auxiliary LED display corner boards designed to highlight scoring and statistical information, and to provide additional static advertising opportunities. Courtside LED display/scorers table, a game in progress scoring system and an LED operating system were also part of the scope.

The sound system consisted of a Danley Sound Labs distributed cluster design powered by Danley Sound Labs amplifiers. Front of House mixing console and stage boxes were a DiGiCo SD Series solution and digital signal transport was handled by Q-Sys DSP.

DANLEY COVERS UNIVERSITY OF IOWA’S CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA

Constructed in 1983, the 15,400-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena is home to the University of Iowa Hawkeye basketball, wrestling, gymnastics and volleyball teams. It also hosts big-ticket concerts (Whitney Houston, Metallica, and Guns N’ Roses, to name a few), graduation ceremonies and speeches (including Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu, and Jane Goodall). Its unique architecture makes good use of the earth. Most of the seating is subgrade, which makes entering the arena a thrill in itself. The arena pioneered the use of geothermal heating and cooling to keep fans comfortable. Recently, the Carver-Hawkeye Arena joined the University’s 70,000-seat Kinnick Stadium by deploying a full Danley Sound Labs sound reinforcement system with huge benefits to fidelity, coverage and visceral impact.

Larry Lucas of Anthony James Partners, of Richmond, VA, designed and commissioned the new Danley system, with assistance from legendary acoustician Doug Jones, who is now a member of the Danley team. The same duo was responsible for the recent Danley upgrade at Kinnick Stadium, which now employs a massive Danley Caleb Horn to cover most of the seating. Minneapolis-based Parsons Electric handled the install at Kinnick and secured the bid at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“Amazingly, Carver-Hawkeye Arena managed to get by with the original installed sound system for over 30 years!” explained Dave Potts, veteran field systems engineer at Parsons Electric. “But that was obviously dated technology. They were hoping for much better intelligibility, greater musical impact and better user control. The new system gives them all of that, and we managed to pull the old system out and put the new system in in just six weeks! That included pulling new cable and negotiating a bunch of other contractors (they were replacing the scoreboards and making other renovations at the same time!) For a while, we had to work around 14 boom lifts, cranes, and crane trucks on the floor – only five of which were ours!”

Eight loudspeaker clusters ring the floor to cover the main bowl of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Two of the clusters use a pair of Danley SH-96HOs each, and the remaining clusters use a pair of Danley SH-96s each. In addition, two clusters of three Danley TH-118 subwoofers each provide tight low-end support. Two additional Danley SH-96s fire straight down at either end of the basketball court to cover the floor. Ten Danley SM-80s create a far ring to deliver delayed coverage to the upper bowl. Finally, Parsons Electric reconditioned existing speakers and their wiring in the concourse, separating them into eight unique zones and applying delay to time align them with the rest of the system.

Fourteen new four-channel Danley DNA 20K4 Pro amplifiers provide 280,000W of clean, efficient power to the system, along with comprehensive signal processing facilities for loudspeaker conditioning. A QSC Q-Sys DSP system gives Carver-Hawkeye Arena complete control of presets for different types of functions – including the ability to turn individual clusters on or off to scale to the size of an event – via an intuitive GUI that contains other vital system controls.

“AJP and Danley really nailed the design at Carver-Hawkeye Arena,” said Potts. “I’ve done a ton of these type of arenas, and at first I was skeptical about whether we’d hit all the close seats with these angles. But Danley’s pattern control is really well defined, and Larry [Lucas] and Doug [Jones] were able to dial everything in so that the system covered precisely to the points they required. The boxes themselves sound great; even before we dialed anything in, the intelligibility and impact were there. Of course, we listened critically and notched out a few problem frequencies that were interacting poorly with the room, and it became all the better. Once we had the delays and concourse system time-aligned, the whole system worked together as one unit, regardless of overall volume. I challenge anyone to walk into Carver-Hawkeye Arena and not come away impressed by the intelligibility and impact of its new Danley system.”

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA INSTALLING NEW SCOREBOARD

A major upgrade is on tap for Carver-Hawkeye Arena, as the University of Iowa is installing a new Daktronics scoreboard. Featuring custom designs by Anthony James Partners, the new system will be manufactured and installed over this summer.

“Carver-Hawkeye Arena remains one of the great college athletic venues and we are excited to work with Daktronics on upgrading our scoreboards,” said UI director of athletics Gary Barta. “Adding state-of-the-art video and audio equipment will make the student-athlete and fan experience even greater. Hawkeye fans make Carver-Hawkeye Arena a special place and these enhancements will no doubt bolster the environment moving forward.”

A new four-sided centerhung video system is the centerpiece of the upcoming installation. The two main centerhung displays will measure approximately 14.5 feet high by 26 feet wide and the other two centerhung displays will measure 9.5 feet high by 16.5 feet wide. These displays will feature a tight 6 millimeter line spacing to provide crisp, clear imagery with wide angle visibility to appeal to every seat in the arena.

These displays are capable of variable content zoning which allows them to show one large image or to be divided into multiple zones to highlight any combination of live video, instant replays, statistics, game information, animations and sponsorship messages.

Four auxiliary displays, two at each end of the arena, will be installed as part of the upgrade. Two will measure roughly 9.5 feet high by 80 feet wide and two will measure 9.5 feet high by 48 feet wide. An additional display measuring 3 feet high by 9 feet wide will be installed along the sidelines. A total of eight digital scorer’s tables, each measuring 2 feet high by 9 feet wide, are included in the installation and can be arranged in any formation the arena desires.

The five auxiliary displays and 8 digital scorer’s tables will feature 10 millimeter line spacing. They are also capable of variable content zoning as they provide fans with supplemental content and statistics as well as creating opportunities to highlight sponsors throughout events.

“We appreciate the opportunity to once again partner with the University of Iowa,” said Matt Warnke, Daktronics sales representative. “This is an exciting new installation which includes a centerhung being installed for the first time in Carver Hawkeye Arena that not only highlights our state-of-the-art technology but also our depth of engineering expertise. This new system will enhance an already great game-day environment and we look forward to seeing the system installed later this summer.”