The Cassville school district is moving forward with the plan to build a performing arts center, asking voters on April 4 to approve the P.A.W.S. initiative for $9 million in bonds.

P.A.W.S., which stands for Performing Arts and Wildcat Safety, has two main goals — to construct a $9 million performing arts center and to renovate the Cassville High School entrance.

The issue would need a 4/7th majority to pass, or more than 57.14 percent in favor.

Performing arts center

Merlyn Johnson, Cassville superintendent, said the bond will be a boon to not only the fine arts program, but the entirety of Cassville schools and the community as a whole. “Any program requiring a large get-together can be here,” Johnson said. “We will be able to accommodate many groups through the school days, evening events and concerts. We can have things like our Veterans Day assembly, spelling bee and grade-level programs, and the community members will also be able to rent the facility.”

The planned performing arts center is a 28,000-square-foot addition, connecting directly to the south 200 and 300 hallways of the existing high school. it will have 350 fixed seats in front of the stage, plus another 450 retractable seats behind those.

It will also include a choir room, band room and auxiliary room giving options to the fine arts department. There will not be a built-in concession stand, but there is an area that will allow for roll-in food service.

The exterior of the performing arts center will include a 100-plus space parking lot, which when combined with existing parking, could handle an 800-person event. The new lot will also be marked with football field hash marks to allow the band to practice on dry concrete instead of wet grass. Furthermore, there is potential to divide bus pickups from car pickups using the new lot.

A space on the west end of the building is also reserved for placement of graduate plaques currently displayed at the Rock Gym. An electric vehicle charger will also be installed, with capacity for more in the future should the need arise.

Johnson said along with giving Cassville state-of-the-art sound and theatrical production equipment and space, a main driver of the project is to increase square footage at the district.

“The FEMA Event Center has about 500 seats and we can fit about 200 on the floor, but it is more of a multi-purpose facility and geared more toward sports,” Johnson said. “A performing arts center will give the fine arts program a place to call home.”

“One cool aspect of this design is it will encourage student involvement in production, with a dedicated sound booth to working the lights and stage,” Reid said. “There is a lot of technical training opportunities where kids can even get certifications. Historically, students have not been involved with sound and lights, and that will change.

“Being so close to Branson, this is a great opportunity for our students to learn here and go on to run those kinds of shows. It’s also great for kids who are not in fine arts or athletic but want to be involved. it may be as simple as pulling the curtain up and down, but it gives them a job and a place.”

One of the last few in the Big 8 Conference to construct a fine arts facility, Johnson said as school officials toured other performing arts centers, they picked up on what they liked and disliked.

“We went to places like Purdy, Monett, McDonald County and Pea Ridge (Ark.), and we really liked what Pea Ridge had,” he said. “It’s not a New York City performing arts center, but it will be very nice for a high school in Missouri. We modeled it a lot after Pea Ridge with the retractable seating opening up event space. Not all of the centers we toured had classroom space either.”

Mindi Artherton, Cassville schools media liaison, said officials toured 10 facilities total and took their findings to board members.

“Jefferson County had a woodshop connected to theirs, so they could bring in props directly from the back of the house,” she said.

“Our theatre is close to our woodshop, so with our garage doors and concrete entrance, we can easily truck props back and forth,” said Dusty Reid, Cassville director of facilities and operations.

Johnson is no stranger to performing arts center projects. When he left St. James in 2021 for Cassville, he had just overseen the $12 million renovation of that district’s 1923 gymnasium into a new performing arts facility.

“I have some knowns where others have unknowns,” he said. “Back then, I was in the unknowns, too. This project is about the same in capacity and size, and I know what I know. It’s interesting to watch the skepticism, but many people are excited about the good things to come, and I believe all will be satisfied with the end result. Those who don’t have a lot invested in the district will be pleasantly surprised.”

Johnson said an upside to the Cassville project is the building is from the ground up, not a renovation.

“This isn’t like the 1923 gym in that way,” he said. “This is a new building, so we should have no surprises. It’s less of a challenge because we won’t find asbestos or have to redo walls with caved-in plaster, or have ADA issues with stairs. We are starting from scratch and making it how we want it to be.”

Johnson said the district hopes the facility can become an attraction and economic driver in Cassville, as it will open up opportunities for school-sponsored and private events.

“We will be able to host all kinds of competitions,” he said. “Bringing students from other districts to our school for those has a positive impact on the local economy. A band competition, for example, could bring 13 schools, each with two busses, plus all the parents and supporters.”

Johnson emphasized from the outside, the building may look a bit like a tin box, but the inside will be the jewel.

“We can’t afford to make it look like Big Cedar Lodge, but we don’t want it to just be a metal building,” he said. “We are being creative to make it the best e can on our budget. it will look a little like a tin building, but it will be a really cool one.”

Lance Parnell, incoming activities director, said the possibility of a performing arts center can benefit multiple programs.

“To have a space designed for our vocal music, theater, speech and debate and band students to perform would be outstanding and beneficial to each program,” he said. “This space would be available for students district wide to have performances and events. Several athletic programs would see a positive impact from a performing arts building as well. Boys basketball, girls basketball and wrestling would not have to be relocated during the winter when the high school gym or FEMA are being used for concerts or elementary programs.”

Linda Thompson, parent of a Cassville graduate and current student and treasurer for the Wildcat Takedown Club, said the possibility for the wrestling program to have a designated space is alluring.

“Having been part of the youth wrestling program for nine years and now having my son move into high school wrestling, I know all too well the amount of space it takes to have these large mats laid out on the floor and to store them,” she said. “The wrestling program in our community is gaining momentum every year in both the boys and girls divisions in high school and in the youth program. These programs are producing district champs, state qualifiers, state placers, state champions and strong leaders of tomorrow. I feel that having the performing arts building will allow the wrestling program to have the space to accommodate the amazing growth of this sport.”

Chaney Cox, a junior and band student at Cassville, said she’s excited for what an arts center could bring to the fine arts program.

“As someone who has been in my schools’ band program for the past six years, I think it is very important to someday have a professional performance space,” she said. “Not only would a PAC benefit the band, but also our choir and theater departments. Having a PAC would open up an array of classes and opportunities students could take involving theater, choir, and band and give students the chance to explore their passions. Not only would a PAC be great for performing, but it would also make scheduling concerts much easier as opposed to having to work around sports schedules with gyms, giving our athletes more space too.

“My siblings are in sixth grade band right now, and I would love to be able to someday see them perform on a stage for our community. Our school has simply outgrown our current set-up and needs somewhere for our fine arts students to be able to further explore what they love.”

High school entryway

About $200,000-$300,000 of funding will go toward renovating the Cassville High School entrance to increase security.

The current setup is a buzzer system at the door, with a small vestibule before another set of doors opening into the building, requiring visitors to pass through a metal detector before entry.

The plan going forward is to increase the size of the vestibule and to move the main office to adjacent classroom space, forcing visitors to enter the office before gaining access to the building.

“We’ve given some ideas to the architects, and we want an entry with a vestibule to increase security and provide more visibility for our staff as people enter the building,” Johnson said. “We look to relocate the principal’s office and two secretaries, and to revamp the present office.”

Facilities improvements

With remaining funds, Reid said the district has a punch list of capital projects it hopes to complete.

“We want to redo some roofs, definitely over the middle school locker room and concessions area,” he said. “Depending on the pricing, maybe a few more. We also have problems with our getters across the K-8 campus. They are not functioning properly and allowing water to come into the eaves and pool at the foundation.”

Beyond those, the district hopes to put new windows at the maintenance facility in the middle school tech department. The current single-pane windows are more than 70 years old.

“We also need to repair a gas line and may do some electrical upgrades,” Reid said. “We will have to complete projects as funds allow because prices continually fluxuate, and we never know a cost for sure until bids come in.”

District-wide security camera upgrades are also on the table.

Funding

Funding for all projects would come from the $9 million in bonds, which the district plans to partially invest to generate another $700,000-$900,000 to be used on projects beyond the performing arts center.

“We have some other district operating funds saved that can be put in, but the strategy has been to put money into capital projects over the years to help with lower-priority projects, and we will continue to do that.”

Facing the district is a 20 percent rise in construction costs over the past couple years, forcing the district to engage in what Johnson termed as value-engineering.

“Inside will be top-of-the-line, stateof- the-art,” he said. “Outside is where we’ve employed some value-engineering strategies to reduce costs, all of which are cosmetic. Construction costs have not diminished the scope of work — we just have to be creative.”

Should the bond issue pass, the district hopes to break ground on the performing arts center by August or September, with an 18-month construction timeline under ideal circumstances.

For more information on the bond initiative, people may visit https://cassville.k12.mo.us/vnews/display.v/ART/64010997483b7.