Sierra City Improvement Group Pays for Community Hall Sound System

SIERRA CITY — The Sierra City Community Hall has a new public address system, paid for by a local nonprofit, the Sierra City Improvement Group. The system cost roughly $4,000, according to Tamara Rangel, treasurer of the Sierra City Fire Department Auxiliary, which had planned to split the bill.

Jim Westfall, who owns The Buttes Resort, said the Improvement Group, which he directs, covered the cost. Westfall had wanted to replace the hall’s aging equipment for years, Rangel says. She described the old setup as “difficult to hear and long overdue for replacement.”

Rangel and Westfall together selected Beam “Easy Living” Center of Grass Valley to supply and install the system. The equipment went in on Thursday, August 13.

The new system puts a speaker in each of the hall’s four inside corners. It also includes a Bluetooth mixer amplifier with a tuner and a USB input, a feedback suppressor, a wireless receiver, and a wireless microphone, Rangel said. The Bluetooth connection allows music to be streamed through the speakers.

The hall stands at 14 Castagna Alley, just off Main Street. Built in 1940 of log construction, it has a 40-by-50-foot floor, 22-foot ceilings, wood floors, a raised stage, and a commercial kitchen, and it holds up to 120 people. It hosts workshops, reunions, meetings, movies, potlucks, performances, celebrations, and more. It also serves as the community’s emergency or incident command center.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story reported that Jim Westfall paid for the sound system personally. After publication, Westfall said the Sierra City Improvement Group, the nonprofit he directs, paid for it with money from donations to the group. The headline and the story have been updated.