Elgin working to quiet noise at Roadhouse, Main Event

If you see a large cherry picker outside the Roadhouse in Elgin Friday night, don't fret.

The owners aren't trying to raise the roof at one of the city's newest downtown venues -- they're merely to measure how much sound escapes from it.

The effort is part of a committee -- led by the Downtown Neighborhood Association -- to work with acoustical consultants and neighbors to find the right noise levels needed to entertain patrons but not disrupt residents too much.

"Our charge is to find balance," DNA Executive Director Tonya Hudson said.

She said bars can turn down the sound -- to a point -- and compared the situation to someone going to see an action flick at the theater.

"There's a certain volume level we expect when we go to a movie and enjoy the experience," she said.

Ed Mascari, owner of the Roadhouse, said the committee's work so far has resulted in at least three suggestions of how to reduce noise emanating from his place.

The first is to erect a sound barrier at the Main Event, a wing of the Roadhouse that features mixed martial arts bouts. Others are to wrap the venue's doors in lead-based vinyl to dampen noise, build custom window frames for inside and install vinyl sound insulation along the building's facade at 200 Prairie St.

Overall, these steps are expected to cost at least $30,000, Mascari said.

"We are taking it seriously and we're trying to do what we can without changing the nature of our business," he said, "We're willing to do what we need to do to a certain extent but, quite frankly, we are who we are. The city knew what we are when I showed them my business plan."

Another step could be to insulate the inside of the building's barrel-shaped roof. This is where much of the sound is escaping -- hence the cherry picker to measure how it sounds from three stories up.

All of this is in addition to $6,000 Mascari spent on a special sound processor to help control reverberation from the deepest bass emitted from speakers when a disc jockey is mixing tunes.

"You can isolate certain sound waves and eliminate them," he said. "It's the bottom end of the bass that seems to be the issue."

The consultants also suggested adding another set of doors at the front of Mad Maggie's, 51 S. Grove Ave., to help control noise and draping the street level window with an interior acoustical curtain.

The committee is expected to make some final recommendations later this month or in May.