buried but not

The city of Montreal is proposing a new city law that manages sound levels from venues that have music shows. There is a movement against this as many of these venues have been around for decades and it is the result of NIMBYs who move in the vicinity who make complaints.

The city shouldn't be caving in to these complaints; the people who complain decided to move into that venue's vicinity, they have the option to move away.

My idea for this post is to create a subterranean music venue where the entry is on some downtown street occupying just the doorway size cropping of an existing commercial location that has a minimal beneath building occupation.

At street level we would cut out a rectangle to begin digging straight down at the street, propping up all sides so as to support the existing structures surrounding the dig site. Once we get maybe 15m deep, or, 10m below the lowest point of the building we are building beneath, start digging laterally to end up beneath the building. My idea is to have a dodecagonal cylinder where the exterior is welded in place such that these steel structures fulfill the role of structure and form. Have the center of the column empty and open to the air, have the music stage at the center at floor level of the music venue. Perhaps have a swelling out at the base of the cylinder to allow for more guests at the same level as the performers. Have two or three balcony levels that are around the perimeter of the dodecagon with seats or standing places right at the edge (of course with a protective barrier to prevent falling) so that guests can look down to see the band. Have on each floor a small bar that serves drinks with servers. Have an elevator that goes from street level to each of the levels. On the dodecagon, opposite the side of the elevator, have an emergency stair case that ends up at an emergency exit at the surface.

I would hire an acoustic engineer and/or technician to design the sound system that bands can plug into such that the sound quality is good at all levels of the venue. Similarly I would have a light designer/engineer to manage the lights to see the bands. Next, I could have reasonably large screens at the upper levels that show the performance down below.

By having this music venue subterranean there ought not to be noise complaints.

Maybe have the sound crew make it so that the volume is loudest at the level of the band, somewhat less loud on the first balcony above it, and further less loud as we progress closer to the surface.