It was part of the original plans when the school was first built in 2004, and now Pioneer Valley High School’s performing arts center is finally becoming a reality. The 16,411-square-foot structure will seat nearly 300, and will include three classrooms in addition to the stage. The project is estimated to cost around $10 million and is funded through C2000 and 2004 bonds.
On Sept. 16 city and school officials got a tour of the under-construction performing arts center on the high school campus.
Senior Pioneer drama student Devon Alexander Fuller, 17, said he’s been waiting since he was a freshman for the building.
“I’m really excited. I’ve been told that the theater was going to be built for all my high school years. And my brother said that they said that while he was in high school too. So it’s exciting to actually see it be built,” Fuller said.
Drama students who also toured the building were even moved to take the stage and get the feel for their future digs.
Pioneer junior Daniel Geiger, 16, stole the opportunity to try out the acoustics with a song. “If our teacher didn’t tell us to be calm I’d be bouncing off the walls right now. Because we’ve been performing in our drama room and it’s a lot smaller than this. So I’m excited to be in such a big space and we can have more people in our audiences,” Geiger said.
Up to this point the school’s drama department has used a classroom for its performances. Not only has the current space been cramped but it has also limited what the drama students could do, senior Joseph Madrigal, 17, said.
“We could never do something like the Lion King or Les Mis. Now that we’re going to have this huge thing we can do a lot more productions, and it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Madrigal said.
Drama instructor and visual and performing arts department chair Shawnah Van Gronigen said the department has already anticipated what they will do first with the new space.
“We already have plans for our first five shows. And they’re going to be big. Big cast. Because we’ve always had limited space and with limited space you have limited cast. So now we have a bigger space we can have 50 kids in a cast in plays,” she said.
The school’s band and choir will also use the performing arts center, and other schools will have the chance to rent the facility for use as well.
Pioneer Valley Principal Shanda Herrera said the school needs the facility.
“Our kids here usually do two major productions per year so they’ve had to find other facilities to have their productions,” Herrera said. “We have made it work for a lot of years. We are ready.”
She said the space will also give the kids the chance to learn about lights, sound, and technical production, and encourage the performing arts as a career pathway for the students.
“So this is a true opportunity for growth where we want to build skills, where our kids can just grow after high school,” Herrera said.
School representatives expect construction to be complete in early 2017.
School Scene was compiled by Editor Shelly Cone. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Sep 22-29, 2016.