If you like the sound in Alice Tully Hall's new auditorium, you can thank the union labor of Lathers Local 46. The 1,000-seat venue, which just underwent a $159 million renovation, is the home of the New York Film Festival and noted for the Starr Theater, the chamber music venue of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

In the theater, it was the Lathers who installed the sound isolation panels in the main performance space. Computer aided design complemented the lathers skills. To get the exact acoustic effects desired, a computer determined each sound isolator's size. Those isolators are attached to the sheet rock and covered with acoustic panels. As important, the ceiling panels in the auditorium can change position to adjust to different acoustical needs.

The work of the Lathers is also essential for the achieving the new look of the building. Creating the open, sweeping structure of the lobby required a specially designed system of struts to hold each of the inch-thick, 75-pound cement ceiling panels by bolting them directly to the steel decking. In some areas the angles were not your standard 45 or 90 degrees, and a set of smaller panels were attached with a swivel mechanism.

New methods and materials meant the lathers had to master newer tools and technology, and had to keep worker safety at the top of their agenda. That's one reason the foreman on the project was a veteran with over twenty years of experience. The local always insures high standards through its Apprenticeship program, which every member must complete in order to attain Journeyman status.

Lathers Local 46 has nearly 1,600 members, who have worked on projects as diverse as Yankee Stadium and the new World Trade Center. Their craftsmanship helped to make Alice Tully Hall's first renovation in its 40-year history into a unique and beautiful addition to the landscape of the Upper West Side.