The University of Notre Dame is noted for its rich football tradition, but the school wanted to make its famous Notre Dame Stadium into something more than just a sports venue. Much, much more.
Integrator ESCO installed a full spectrum of technology, addressing areas such as:
- Classroom
- Research
- Multiple academic departmental offices
- Student career and professional development
- Centralized campus digital media
- Student radio/TV
- Performance and rehearsal halls
- Student life and recreation
- Conference rooms
- Premium Club/hospitality and ballrooms
- Game day operations, management and TV broadcast
Scope Wasn’t the Only Challenge
Not only was this a massive, multifaceted project to plan for, but the RFP agreement between the client and ESCO — who hade worked together on past projects — required integrator-proposed specific solutions that would be reviewed and critiqued by the consultant team.
Plus, the original press box at Notre Dame Stadium was scheduled for immediate demolition. ESCO was tasked with first creating an audio system that could last an entire football season, at least until the work on a new press box was completed.
The ESCO Solution
The combined volume, variety and complexity of systems provided by ESCO was astronomical:
- 120 classrooms, conference rooms and meeting rooms with digital media transport and customized touchpanel control
- IPTV and digital signage system serving the entire Notre Dame Stadium concourse areas and hospitality spaces, and providing the keystone for media service to other athletic areas on campus
- Dahnke Ballroom, Downes Club, and Foley’s Premium Club, each with several displays, automated separate/combine modes of room configuration, and extensive integrated control
- New stadium bowl audio system consisting of two 21-foot tall, 6,700-pound array of loudspeakers on each side of the south end zone video board serving 80,000 fans on game day
Listen: Esports Technology: It Should Be Your Next Project (Episode 59 of AV+)
And that’s just the half of it. Throughout installing all of these, ESCO worked with each of the relevant departments corresponding to the different spaces. As anyone who watches college football knows, broadcasting is something Notre Dame takes very seriously.
Here’s what ESCO installed surrounding broadcast and media control:
- Broadcast infrastructure, utilized for transporting all national TV stadium events
- AV, theatrical rigging & lighting systems within multiple premium performance and rehearsal spaces
- CCTV system consisting of over 250 cameras and associated VMS (video management software), integrated with the campus-wide surveillance system complete with multiple viewing and control locations within the stadium operations and security management facilities
- Access control system consisting of over 150 controlled doors, integrated with the campus-wide system
- Security/intrusion system with over 650 monitoring points
- Dante audio network with over 300 streams and robust IP video network, allowing source feeds facility-wide to be shared with ND Studios.
The Impact on Notre Dame Stadium
It’s safe to say ESCO scored major points with the university with this far-reaching project.
“ESCO hit the ground running when they arrived on to the Campus Crossroads Project, and carried that same pace through to the finish line,” says Andrew Held, project manager for construction services company Barton Malow.
“ESCO’s dedication went beyond just delivering a working system on time, but also taking the time to meet with the constituents to review their respective systems, and make sure the system was optimized to best suit their needs.”
Equipment Highlights
- Crestron Controls, AV Distribution, Touchpanels
- NEC Displays
- Crown Amplifiers
- JBL Speakers
- Denon Blu-ray, Media Player
- Shure Microphones
- Panasonic Video Cameras
- Peerless-AV Mounts
- Attero Tech Dante Audio
- Axis Surveillance Cameras
- Ademco Alarm System
