Tool for Movable Ceiling

Abstract

The Bendix Corp., with the help of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, developed a tool to equalize tensions in the 150 cables of the ceiling. This inexpensive tool used in concert halls was developed first for elevator and crane cables used to lift heavy space vehicles. University of Akron's performing arts hall has been developed to shrink and expand to accommodate audiences as large as 3,000 and as small as 900. Once the hall has been sound tuned, various positions of this ingenious ceiling and related acoustic curtains may be called into play immediately by pushing buttons on a control console programmed previously. With the touch of a finger before an event, a technician may condition the hall for chamber music, symphony, or theater.