Dynamic Roof Helps Raise Profile of New Kentucky Music Center

Newport, Kentucky has reinvented its image in the past 75 years. Once known as “Sin City” for its history of gambling and bootlegging, the community of slightly more than 15,000 residents just across the Ohio River in Cincinnati is now a highly-regarded entertainment and cultural district. 

A new project will enhance that reputation. The PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation is an indoor/outdoor concert venue that will host nearly 180 events a year, bringing up to 400,000 music fans to the site. 

The $40 million pavilion is part of Phase I of the Ovation project, which also includes a parking garage, office building and a hotel. While Corporex, the master developer, completes elements of Phase I, it is commencing work on the 1,600-car parking garage that will support the entire Phase II structure. Phase II includes a pedestrian walkway, structured parking, residential units, office space, retail, entertainment, hotels and an amenity club. 

Designed by ATA Beilharz Architects of Cincinnati, the pavilion includes a structural steel frame with interior mezzanine and two raised stages. The project includes a 24,000 square foot roof over the steel frame. The stages cover about 42,000 square feet. Below the pavilion is a 550-car parking garage with a bus dock for touring performers and their teams. 

The indoor/outdoor venue is the third such concert venue by PromoWest, and features state-of-the-art lighting, acoustical systems, and an innovative reversible movable stage. It is divided into three independent concert spaces – an indoor music hall, indoor club and outdoor amphitheater. 

One of the most distinctive features of the project is the roof that sweeps over the pavilion. “If you’re standing on the top it looks like a ski jump overlooking Cincinnati,’’ said Aaron Presar of TruCraft Roofing. 

The project includes three double-leaf smoke vents manufactured by BILCO. The 4-foot x 6-foot vents allow firefighters to bring a fire under control by removing smoke, heat and gasses from a burning building. The units include a Thermolatch^® positive hold/ release mechanism that ensures reliable vent operation when a fire occurs. BILCO’s double leaf vents are engineered with gas spring operators to open covers in snow and wind conditions. 

Double leaf automatic smoke vents are the most economical way to add fire venting protection in large areas, and are available in steel or aluminum construction. The curb-mounted fusible link housing allows the latch to be quickly and easily re-set from the roof level. 

“When given a choice for smoke or roof access hatches we tend to go with BILCO,’’ Presar said. “We’ve never had any issues with latches or mechanical issues on a new product. They have great accessible literature online for their products and our reps in this case, Chris Graves with Mueller Roofing and Joe DeFrain with Welling, are always helpful in finding any specific nuances required from project to project.” 

Phone:  800-366-6530
Commercial@BILCO.com
www.bilco.com