Dearborn Heights City Council members prepare to conduct their first meeting in Studio B.
Room re-named ‘Studio B’
By ROBERT ANKRAPP
For the Times-Herald
HEIGHTS – City Council members got to experience their new council chambers during their April 26 meeting. Their meeting was kicked off with a celebratory ribbon cutting to acknowledge the completion of the fully renovated room, renamed “Studio B.”
The room underwent a total renovation, including construction, decor, lighting, furnishings and technology hardware that lasted several months. Now, in addition to hosting the traditional slate of council and administrative meetings, the redesigned room also will be used to host selected (city hall-based) video tapings and photo sessions as a supplement to the rity’s regular cable TV studio.
WDHT-TV Studio Manager Angela Keller demonstrates the equipment in the new Studio B control room.
“I am delighted at the results of this project” Mayor Bill Bazzi said. “We finally have an up-to-date, fully ADA-compliant room for our meetings and taping sessions we can be truly proud of.
“Anyone who was in the old room knows how desperately the room needed updating, as no improvements had been made for decades. Everything was stripped out and replaced, including the flooring, ceiling, wall coverings, and furniture.
“Particularly impressive now, are the state-of-the-art technological improvements. We will no longer have to rely on a camera operator running a single tripod-mounted camera in the back of the room during council meetings, panning back and forth in an attempt to capture everything that was going on. We now have four wall-mounted robotic cameras and all new audio equipment that are operated in the adjacent control room that will let us capture everything.”
The old fluorescent lighting has been replaced by energy-saving LED lighting, as well as an improved HVAC system that will help maintain more tolerable temperatures during meetings – particularly during the summer months.
As the majority of the meetings and events held in this room are recorded and replayed over the city’s cable TV and social media channels (with much of the room’s re-design being centered on the effective use of electronic media to inform and educate the public), funding for the project was provided through Public, Educational or Governmental funds – which are paid to the city on a per-subscriber rate by the three cable companies that serve the city. Use of these funds is restricted specifically for purposes such as this, and may not be used for the city’s general operations.
“This room has finally been transformed from one that was a source of embarrassment for officials, staff and visitors alike, into one we can all look at and use with a sense of pride” Bazzi said. “It is a great improvement for our communications operations. I congratulate City Engineer Ali Dib and all those who participated for their great work on bringing this project to fruition.”
A contractor dismantles the old council desk prior to the start of the room’s new construction.