Location: Sacramento, CA
CYS was the structural engineer-of-record for this $13.5 million renovation and replacement for the California Musical Theatre Company (CMT) and the Sacramento Theatre Company (STC). The project presented CYS with unique structural design challenges created by replacing an open-air, circus-style tent with a permanent structure with a fabric roof covering to capture the “feel” and look of the familiar tent it was replacing. While this system continued the “tent” illusion, it also meant that the lateral system had to be independent of the roof, which offered no diaphragm capacity. CYS’ final design was a clear-span truss frame-system, consisting of four modified ordinary moment frames with chords of the trusses connecting to massive H-shaped columns at each end of the trusses. Continuing the aesthetic of being within a tent, 20 tons of lighting array, grid rigging and catwalks were hung from the main trusses.