Lake Bonin Roll-Arena in Rome, PA has long been one of the most popular spots in town. On any given night, you could pull up into the parking lot and hear all the fun that was going on inside. Trouble was, the moment you walked through the doors, the arena's poor acoustics and reverberating echoes made it difficult to understand anything clearly.
Aware of the problem, the owners tried solving the problem by covering the perimeter walls with carpet. They even enclosed a section of the concession stand with Plexiglas to keep the noise from echoing in that area. This helped some, but not nearly enough.
The room had all the classic symptoms of a poor acoustic environment. It was large, had an unusually high 15' ceiling and hard, parallel surfaces. The floor was solid pecan, the ceiling was sheetrock and the walls were wood, partially covered with carpeted paneling.