Stadium sound changes make Rice a quieter campus

Stadium sound changes make Rice a quieter campus

BY JENNIFER EVANS
Rice News staff

A two-year project to minimize sound projecting from Rice’s athletic venues beyond campus, or “sound spill,” will be completed this summer. The final part of the project, overhauling the sound system at Rice Stadium, is currently under way and follows improvements already completed at the baseball and the track and soccer stadiums.

“Rice’s athletic facilities have always conformed to the city sound code, but in response to neighborhood requests, Rice agreed to go ‘above and beyond’ the requirements of the law in order to be a good neighbor,” said Greg Marshall, senior director of University Relations. “A ‘Quieter Campus Committee’ was convened specifically to address sound spill, and the retrofit of the three athletic stadia was the ultimate result.”

Working with professional acoustical engineer John Wilbanks of Pro/Sound, Rice has found creative solutions to the issue.

Reckling Park saw improvements with the construction of an indoor batting cage, restriction of the times the remaining batting cage could be used, and volume changes made to speakers aimed at bleachers along the first baseline.

The track and soccer stadium at the corner of Main Street and University Boulevard received a new sound system in September. The system is aimed at the bleachers and designed to spill sound onto the field and to minimize the volume transmitted across University Boulevard.

At Rice Stadium, equipment is being installed that will sample crowd volume and automatically adjust the speaker volume so that it stays at a constant level above the crowd sound.

“With this system, the sound volume will be sufficient for the fans to hear, but no louder than it needs to be, reducing sound spill outside the stadium as much as possible,” Wilbanks said.

All the changes are expected to be in place in time for the Owls’ home opener against Southern Methodist University Aug. 29.