District Administration - December 2008 - (Page 36)

Building the Best Auditorium This decision cost less because it uses space above rather than cutting more deeply into the adjacent parking lot the school needed to sacrifice for the building in the first place. But the associated mechanisms themselves were expensive. To save money, the school kept the number of ropes and pulleys in the fly systwo things simultaneously.” Another challenge is financing. While most public schools end up issuing bonds, this still requires a good sales job from the administration. Kromm is more than willing to join the dog and pony show with his clients, hitting the city meetings with 3-D presentations and virtual tours. to accommodate more seats, a plus if you want to rent out your stage, due to limited square footage. In Tempe, facility planning experts installed what Oxford, Conn.-based manufacturer Macton calls “turntable” systems in three of its auditoriums to solve the problem. Sections of the seating can rotate away to form classroom space, thus temporarily reducing the auditorium footprint. Studies at Macton show a 6.3 percent reduction in overall construction costs with this method, mainly because it eliminates the need to build more surrounding classrooms for students. Desert Vista High School in Arizona opted for retractable wall sections that rotate instead of the seats rotating, but the end result is the same, Anderson says. “Not too many high schools want to spend that much money on auditoriums,” he explains. Tempe could foot the bill because its residents are in the same ZIP code with Arizona State University, “and they have a lot higher expectations. They do not go with the minimum standards,” he adds. If it requires taxes and school bonds to make that happen, so be it. Stage Five of the auditoriums in the Tempe district installed counterweight fly systems (a set of ropes and pulleys with weights to balance the load they are moving) above the stage for set changes, a move Anderson says means administration has to commit to providing adult supervision. If students aren’t constantly monitored to use the ropes and pulleys correctly, anyone in the vicinity could be in danger of being hit by falling 1,000-pound props. On the other hand, Tempe chose a motorized fly system at Marcos de Niza High School’s auditorium and discovered this choice requires a lot more maintenance. Lemont didn’t have the physical space to create wings on the side of its stage for storage and set changes, so planners opted for a fly tower, which allows the stage crew to raise sets approximately 2 1/2 times as tall as the arch at the front of the stage. 36 December 2008 “This is a cynical age. So our greatest challenge was to build on the trust we have established all these years that we’ve been fiscally responsible.” —Sandy Doebert, superintendent, Lemont Township (Ill.) High School District 210 tem to a minimum, reflecting what they needed as opposed to loading the space with extra lines for play scenes and band shells that might be added later. “It was the most difficult temptation to resist,” Doebert admits. “Once you get past the basic decisions, it’s difficult to determine where to draw the line concerning amenities, features and technology in a facility like the Performing Arts Center. Also, there is a steep learning curve concerning terminology—you begin to talk like an engineer. It was a huge education curve for me to make sure I understood enough to make appropriate consumer decisions on behalf of the district.” The Challenges From an architect’s side of the table, finding the best location is typically the biggest hurdle, whether building a new building like McEachern High School, adding to an existing building like at Lemont High School, or renovating an existing space like at Neosho, according to Tom Roth, the senior designer at Wight & Co. Doebert considered a stand-alone auditorium at Lemont High School in what is now an athletic field. But the attachment option required less of a space sacrifice, she explains, “and when you enter the building, there is now a main side for classrooms, and the opposite side with the auditorium, our field houses and football stadium. So we are literally able to conduct Doebert sold to taxpayers a $29.6 million project bond (of which the auditorium was part) by emphasizing it would not require tax dollars. In fact, because the community’s equalized assessed value rating, which measures financial worth, had increased enough between 1996 and 2006, the district could refinance and literally lower the tax rate associated with the building. Still, the message to the community wasn’t a no-brainer. “It does require that the public trust that you’re telling them the truth,” Doebert notes. “This is a cynical age, and sometimes they won’t believe you. So our greatest challenge was to build on the trust that we have established all these years that we’ve been fiscally responsible.” McKernan in Ansonia considers her school’s new auditorium to be one of the most effective public relation tools possible. “I believe strongly that a high school should be busy literally seven days a week,” she says. Her auditorium has become the gathering place for town hall meetings, board presentations and community banquets— all involving people who need to know what is happening in the local school. “We marketed it as part of the community, and that’s what it has become,” she adds. DA Julie Sturgeon is a freelance writer based in Indianapolis. District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - December 2008

District Administration - December 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
News Update
College Preparatory
Security
Technology
District Profile
Administrator Profile
DA Web Seminars
Desperately Seeking Special Ed Teachers
Special Education’s Challenges
Building the Best Auditorium
Leading the Way
Righting the Writing Process
Sharpening a District’s Leadership Model
TCEA
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Problem Solution
Professional Opinion
Research Center
Calendar of Events
Online Edge

District Administration - December 2008