The first stage at the site of the new Performing Arts Center (PAC) at Cassville High School was built on Thursday, a mound of dirt turned by school officials, administrators, students, teachers and community members at the building’s official groundbreaking.
Approximately 50 people attended the event, celebrating the initiation of a one-year project to built a PAC with a guaranteed maximum price of $9,865,987, funded mostly by the passing of a $9.5 million bond issue in April this year with 63 percent of voters in favor.
Paragon Architecture is the district’s architect for the project, and R.E. Smith is the construction management company.
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.
Audrey Gosvener, a senior at Cassville active in speech and debate and theatre, said although she will not reap the benefit of the construction, scheduled to be completed in September 2024, she is excited for the district’s possibilities in the future.
“Overall, I am excited about the opportunities, and I’m sad I won’t get to experience it, but the opportunities are great for kids coming up in great programs,” she said. “Competition-wise, it will really help, because we don’t have a stage, actual props or lighting. A lot of the bigger schools have these opportunities and are ahead of the game.”
Gosvener, who plans to continue her education in pursuit of a communications degree in public speaking, said the dirt-turning reminded her of a previous project the district completed in 2013.
“When we got the FEMA building [at the middle school], that was supposed to be like a PAC for us, and we were really excited,” she said. “But, to actually have something specific for performing arts, actually having a stage, that’s very exciting.”
Gosvener said speech and debate practices and performances are generally in regular high school classrooms, and theatre performances have been held at times in the high school cafeteria/ commons area.
“It’s not abnormal to have less opportunities and resources compared to a bigger school, but so many people here are great at what they do, and giving them the proper resources will allow them to reach their full potential.”
