PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: Clearwater's The Sound

Coachman Park, situated just beyond one of America’s top-rated beaches, has been a beloved community landmark since 1945. The City of Clearwater undertook a complete renovation of the park to enhance the connection between central downtown and the intracoastal waterfront. The project boasts 19 acres of redeveloped park space, a fun pirate-themed playground, and the centerpiece of it all — The Sound, a 9,000-seat outdoor venue.

​In 2021, a few months after the initial groundbreaking, APG Technology was selected to be the audio-visual contractor for The Sound’s new bandshell AV system. With extensive experience in high-end stadium installations, working on a bandshell audio and video system was an exciting new challenge for the team.

The audio, video, control, and network areas were distributed across several sections of the venue. These included the stage, production offices, dressing rooms, a VIP multi-purpose area, a front-of-house production area, a catwalk with various camera and intercom locations, and the bandshell structure, which houses both current and future audio and video systems. 

In anticipation of future needs, we installed a range of inputs and outputs, including audio, video, dante signals, cameras, and display locations. Our Stagecomm intercommunication system accommodates both analog and digital transmission, with a complete cabling system in place to support it. This comprehensive system ensures The Sound’s infrastructure is future-proofed, and ready for whatever comes next.

The bandshell’s unique construction created some challenges. Each portion of the shell’s structure had to be meticulously scanned and inspected before being transported across the US border, which caused scheduling delays for our APG team. Despite this, they were able to finish the project on time, and the venue opened without a hitch!

Being involved in a project of this nature, which benefits and brings together the community, was a privilege and a great source of pride for us.

We would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to everyone involved in this groundbreaking job.  We give our sincere thanks to the City of Clearwater, Skanska, and Stantec for entrusting us with their audio-visual needs, as well as our partners, L-Acoustics and EMG, for their unwavering support throughout the project.