National Baseball Hall of Fame

Opened in 1939, the National Baseball Hall of Fame is home to decades of curated artifacts dedicated to America's pastime. As the starting point for the 3,000 per day fans visiting the museum sits The Grandstand Theater, the "pre-game" to the entire five-building Hall of Fame experience and introductory film on baseball's history. With contemporary decades of history preserved in a fresh film and innovative technologies to engage a new generation of fans, the Hall of Fame's Directors brought the momentous project of renovating its Grandstand Theater to the AV and architect communities.

USIS AV integrated the AV solutions for the Grandstand Theater and Control Room renovation, working with the project’s designers and construction teams. Creating a truly immersive experience for fans was the clear objective for AV, driving seamless integration with the interior’s modern baseball-themed design.

There are two 16-foot tall vertical video walls with LCD displays on either side of the theater to enhance the movie experience.

The video system centers around a high-resolution cinema projector donated by Christie Digital and cinema screen with a motorized masking system common to large scale movie theaters. In addition to the cinema-ready projector, there is a dedicated presentation projector with various media connection points built into the stage allowing presenters more flexibility. The system supports recording and transmission, locally and via broadcast feeds, for a wide variety of programming.

Dolby donated a 32-channel Atmos immersive sound system to the project including in-ceiling speakers. There is an Assisted Listening system to ensure all fans can enjoy the theater experience, and wireless microphone system for presenters.

System control is via a touchscreen or iPad, allowing Tour Guides to dim lights and start the film by simply clicking a “Show Start” button. A more complex control system is housed in the Control Room including mixing console.

The renovated Grandstand Theater in the National Baseball Hall of Fame is now a modern, innovative auditorium outfitted with state-of-the-art digital technologies and fan-friendly amenities. Along with serving as the home to the museum’s new “Generations of the Game” film, AV technology in the Grandstand Theater supports a wide variety of programming including Hall of Fame Induction events. The Theater’s audiovisual systems provide an immersive experience for fans, and an easy-to-operate system for Curators, Tour Guides, and Event Managers.