In a theater, music hall, cinema or family entertainment center, the production package is the building’s purpose and most of its differentiated cost. Projection, audio, stage lighting, rigging and control are equipment that happens to be engineered into a structure.
The signature fact: the technical fit-out separates cleanly from the shell if the study asks the right question, which is what each system serves. House lighting lights the room; theatrical and effect lighting serves the show. Base HVAC conditions the space; dedicated cooling for a projection or amplifier room serves equipment. Structural steel holds the roof up; the rigging grid hung from it holds the production. Those pairs sit inches apart and classify differently.
What reclassifies in an entertainment venue
5-year personal property (Section 1245)
- Projection, video walls, screens and display systems
- Audio reinforcement: speakers, amplifiers, processing, monitors and cabling
- Theatrical lighting, dimming, control consoles, followspots and effect lighting
- Stage rigging, hoists, motors, curtains, drapes and soft goods
- Seating that is not permanently affixed, and lounge and lobby furnishings
- Concession and bar equipment, hoods, dedicated exhaust and POS
- Attraction equipment in family entertainment centers: lanes, simulators, arcade and ride systems
- Box-office fixtures, digital signage, security, CCTV and IT
15-year land improvements (Section 1250)
- Parking, drive aisles, curbing, bollards and queuing hardscape
- Site and marquee-area lighting, monument and pylon sign structures
- Landscaping, irrigation, drainage and fencing
39-year structural (Section 1250)
- Shell, structure, roof, stage deck and permanent risers built into the structure
- Acoustic wall and ceiling assemblies built into the construction
- Base HVAC serving the house, electrical service, general and house lighting
- Fire protection, restrooms, lobbies and standard finishes
- Permanently affixed seating where it is built into the floor structure
Two calls the study should make explicitly
Seating. Fixed seating anchored into a poured riser is generally building. Loose or demountable seating is not. Venues change seating configurations often enough that the current condition, photographed, is worth more than the original spec.
Acoustic treatment. Panels applied as a finish read as building. Demountable acoustic systems and equipment-mounted treatments are a different question. State which one the venue has rather than assuming.
Illustrative, modeled
On a $7M venue with roughly $5.8M of depreciable basis, an accelerated share near 30% moves about $1.75M into short-life pools, with AV, lighting and rigging carrying most of it. This is a modeled figure rather than a completed client study; a cinema, a live music hall and a family entertainment center all sit inside the published range for different reasons.
Cost Seg Smart scopes entertainment venue studies individually with engineer review of the production systems. Fees are published at costsegsmart.com.
FAQ
Is the rigging grid part of the structure?
The steel holding up the roof is. The grid, motors, hoists and points hung from it to fly production elements are equipment serving the show. The structural drawings usually make the boundary obvious once someone looks.
We lease the venue and installed the AV package. Anything to study?
Yes, and in a leased venue the AV package is often the majority of what you own. The study addresses your improvement rather than the landlord’s building, and the lease sets the boundary.
Do arcade and attraction machines count?
Only if they came with the real property purchase and are not already on your fixed-asset schedule. Machines bought separately are already being depreciated at their own life.