Amazing Chicago Tunnel Expands
When Premier Yachts wanted to extend the themed décor to the front of their Amazing Chicago family entertainment center, they again called on Chicago Scenic Studios to do the job. Project Manager Mark Ewing, who worked on the original attraction installed in 2001, was happy to work with Premiere Yachts’ Dan Russell once again, along with new attraction manager Bob Lawler.

In an effort to attract more visitors into Amazing Chicago, CSSI Designer Robert Kovach developed an eye-catching addition, designed by Jack Rouse Associates, for the front entrance of the attraction. The new entrance includes custom exterior decor-ations and a rotating tunnel that spins around guests, dizzying and discombobulating them as they walk through it. To enhance the spinning effect, the exterior was covered with a purple and green vinyl in a barber pole design and the interior was covered in bright yellow canvas with blue dots. The fabric wraps were assembled for the tunnel by CSSI’s Debbie Miller and was installed by a Chicago Scenic crew. Décor items included fun-house mirrors and rotating gears attached to the entrance and exit walls.

CSSI’s Joy Holden was the job lead responsible for the installation of the tunnel and creating the custom décor items. Chicago Scenic’s Mark Ewing served as the construction manager on the job while CSSI’s Curt Kucik was responsible for the electrical and mechanical assembly of the project.






Houston Rockets Unveil New Arena
Chicago Scenic Studios was contracted by the Houston Harris County Sports Authority and the Houston Rockets to put the finishing touches on the Toyota Center, a new multi-purpose state-of-the-art arena. The facility, designed by HOK Sports Facilities Group, Morris Architects, and John Chase Architects, sports a simple yet sophisticated look and will be used for sporting events, family shows, and concerts. Hunt Construction Group, Inc. was the construction manager for the project.

CSSI was hired to create fabric surrounds to enclose the new stadium’s four super columns that provide support for the main roof of the building. The fabric column surrounds, measuring 60-feet-tall and 68-feet-in-circumference, are comprised of smaller steel frames welded together in the CSSI shop. Dan Yuen served as the job lead on the project and supervised the construction of the frames as they went through CSSI’s metals department. He later joined Project Manager Ross Hamilton onsite to complete the installation of the job. Design Engineer Gabe Segoviano took Designer Tom Ryan’s designs and developed 3D CAD layouts and draftings of the project elements.

White polyknit fabric was used to cover the frames based on recommendations by Rosebrand Fabrics because it is inherently flame-retardant with enough elasticity to maintain the shape of the frames, and is easy to clean. The fabric panels were manufactured by Rosebrand Fabrics specifically for the arena. Ralph Clemente supervised the soft goods aspect of the job. CSSI added Rosebrand to the fabrication team to create the fabric panels for the project based on past experiences in working with them on other large-scale projects.
This fast track project was built and installed in just eight weeks.

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