First Baptist Jacksonville

The COVID pandemic of 2020 took its toll on many churches. First Baptist Church of Jacksonville decided to move services from their old, famous 9,000 seat sanctuary into the Lindsay Memorial Auditorium, a second, smaller worship space on the sprawling downtown campus, seating just over 900. In the fall of 2020, the church entered a contract with Paragon 360 to help renovate the space from top to bottom. The $1.8 million renovations were complete in late March 2021.

The project included the demolition of the interior back-of-house area and a basic remodeling of the sanctuary. The sanctuary renovation included replacing the auditorium carpet, painting the lower floor pews, putting in new restrooms, and creating a new modular choir loft. The Paragon team also modernized the infrastructure by improving the audio, video and lighting systems to enhance live streaming capabilities for services and programs.

A significant change for the church was the addition of a new, modular choir loft space designed, built and installed by Paragon 360. This signature Paragon product was more cost-effective and much more versatile than the previous loft plan would have been. It also helped expedite the project delivery time. The system featured a mezzanine with on-stage storage underneath in addition to railings, steps, handrails and additional cubes for choir loft expansion.

After observing the room's audio and acoustical properties, Paragon made improvements to the audio system and added extensive acoustical work throughout the space. In addition, Paragon added its signature monitoring system for the choir, orchestra, praise team, and front-line singers.

Paragon's choir monitor system design utilizes a near field technique, with smaller monitors mounted throughout the choir. This technique drastically reduces the overall volume required for each choir member to be able to hear their tailored monitor mix. All three monitoring systems work in unison to provide the right mix to each musician and lower the on-stage volume as much as possible, bringing clarity and control to the entire platform.

Paragon 360 also provided updates to the existing lighting system, including new LED lighting fixtures, data distribution equipment and hardware. The most prominent addition to the new stage design was (2) Uniliumin LED walls that acted as IMAG screens on the right and left – both driven by NovaStar processing. They also added a Uniliumin LED wall that was custom built into the front side of the choir wall allowing for virtual imagery behind the presenter.

The newly updated Lindsay Memorial Auditorium at First Baptist Jacksonville is well-positioned for the future. With the modular choir loft and center stage LED wall, the space has been used well for contemporary and traditional worship, kids and youth programming and special events. The space was designed for multi-cultural and multi-generational activities and audiences.