Party Club
Party Club

Installation & First Launch

Learn about Party Club's sound insulation installation at The Station, including polyurethane foam and fire-retardant cellulose quotes.

Installation & First Launch

The installation and first launch phase of the club involved significant modifications, particularly concerning sound insulation. This section details the efforts to soundproof The Station, including the initial quote for fire-retardant insulation and the eventual installation of highly flammable polyurethane foam. These decisions, made by the Derderian brothers and club manager Tim Arnold, had critical implications for the club's safety.

The process of installing sound insulation at The Station involved several key steps and decisions:

  1. Initial Quote for Insulation: In May 2000, Bryant provided a written quote to "Mike Derian [sic]" for $1,980. This quote was for the installation of fire-retardant blown-in cellulose insulation in the main ceiling and roof slopes, along with fiberglass insulation in a knee wall. The Derderians never followed up on this quote.
  2. Order of Sound Foam: On June 9, 2000, Mike Derderian wrote to Barry Warner at American Foam, placing an order for "25 blocks of sound foam."
  3. Delivery of Foam: Three weeks later, a truck from American Foam Corporation delivered over one thousand square feet of corrugated foam sheets to The Station.
  4. Installation of Foam: Over the following week, club manager Tim Arnold glued sheets of the charcoal gray, corrugated "egg-crate" polyurethane foam throughout the west end of The Station. He used 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to cover:
    • The walls and ceiling of the entire west end.
    • The south wall above the wainscoting, extending to the corridor for the restrooms.
    • The sloped ceiling over the dance floor on the south roof pitch.
    • The double-thickness door serving as the band's load-in door.
    • Directly on top of existing seventeen-inch-square blocks of two-inch-thick white foam (previously spray-painted black) that Howard Julian had installed in the drummer's alcove in 1996.
  5. Owners' Awareness: Jeff Derderian, a reporter, even covered a story on the fire hazards of foam mattresses less than a year after he and his brother lined the club's walls with polyurethane foam.