LA Propoint Goes Back to School

(Sun Valley, Calif.) June 2nd, 2008– LA ProPoint, a leader in the design, engineering, fabrication, and installation of stage and show systems, has been spending a lot of time in school in 2008. Or schools, to be exact. The company is pleased to announce that it recently completed a commission at Crozier Elementary School in South Central Los Angeles and is currently immersed in two additional theatre renovation projects at Redlands High School in Redlands and West High School in Torrance.

“Our work in local schools is very rewarding,” said Jim Hartman, vice president of LA ProPoint. “As a company that has always been headquartered in Southern California, it is satisfying to be a part of substantial improvements to students’ day-to-day experiences in our area.”

At Crozier Elementary School, the LA ProPoint team played a crucial part in the remodel of the backstage area of the school’s existing theatre. Premier Lighting contracted the team to design, provide and install stage rigging pipes and drapery tracks including 12 deadhang linesets attached to existing structural steel and two traveler tracks, as well as a truss for a front of house lighting position, and a lighting batten operated via two chain hoist motors. Once the underlying system was complete, LA ProPoint hung drapery pieces including a main curtain, valance, borders, legs, rear curtain, and installed a cyclorama and a Skjonberg controller.

After wrapping the Crozier project, LA ProPoint graduated its team to two area high schools. For Redlands High School’s main auditorium, LA ProPoint is following Uniform Building Code Section 405 and Standard 4-1 in its creation of a new fire safety curtain. Made of treated fiberglass fabric, the curtain replaces the one removed from the school which contained asbestos. LA ProPoint’s scope of work includes the curtain, a smoke seal at the top of the curtain, smoke pockets with built-in curtain guides, and an operating system consisting of new loftblocks, a new headblock, a new arbor, repairs to an existing lattice track and a new release system.

Most recently, LA ProPoint started work at West High School in Torrance where theatre teacher and director Christy Orabuena recognized the inherent danger of old, worn rigging equipment and sought funding from the district for repairs and replacements. The LA ProPoint team is currently working on three stage lighting linesets that will make the nearly forty-year-old theatre a safer place for teachers and students.

“The entire school is excited to have our theatre back better than it was before,” explained Christy Orabuena of West High School. “From hosting assemblies to providing a space for creativity and performances, our theatre is an important part of school life and soon it will be easier to use, and safer, because of the work LA ProPoint is doing.”

“As Southern California’s school buildings age, there is an increasing need to take a look at the original infrastructure and evaluate its utility and its safety,” emphasized Mark Riddlesperger, president of LA ProPoint. “LA ProPoint is committed to providing innovative, quality solutions for small and large school projects alike.”