Known as the birthplace of Manitoba, Upper Fort Garry in Winnipeg is a significant site in Canadian history. Although the original fort was largely demolished in the 1880s, its remaining Governor’s Gate and an area of surrounding land was gifted to the city by the Hudson Bay Company ‘as a public park forever’. Overshadowed by surrounding buildings and nearly forgotten, recent development pressures rekindled interest in the site and led to the inspired vision of a US$19m heritage park and interpretive centre for Upper Fort Garry.
A 400ft commemorative wall of naturally rusting Corten steel has been built, with integrated LED lighting by Daktronics and sound by Inland Audio Visual. Marking the height, depth and location of the original west wall, its sculptured layers scribe three continuous lines tracing the history of Western Canada and of Upper Fort Garry.
Inland Audio Visual of Winnipeg was commissioned to design and install the audio for the wall: ‘After seeing the plans for the park, I quickly realised that to successfully cover 400 feet of wall a multichannel solution would be the way to go, and this would also allow for some interesting and creative audio content possibilities,’ says System Designer, Barry Carr.
Source for the system comes from separate audio and video servers, with 18 channels of audio content produced and preloaded to be used as required. Both servers then respond to a Medialon show control system, which schedules, runs and synchronises the entire show. The system amplifiers and DSP are Electro-Voice and the total available audio power is 16kW. Audio transmission is entirely digital and carried over Dante.
The audio system uses 18 Community W2-2W8 mid/highs and 14 W2-122 dual 12-inch subwoofers, distributed along the length of the wall. Carr explains: ‘The key reason for choosing Community was the durability of the W Series in extreme weather. Winnipeg is not only known for beautiful warm summers, but brutally cold winters where the temperatures can go down to 30° below zero. To have the Community speakers perform as good as they do is a bonus to their durability, and they do sound good – very good.’
More than 30 icons are artistically woven into the history timeline on the wall and an accompanying app has been produced for visitors to learn more about the fort before they enjoy the sound and light show, which runs hourly and is proving to be a popular attraction for Winnipeg’s residents and tourists.
