EDUCATION
School system to begin Fine Arts Center
Monroe County schools are set to begin construction of the new $7.5 million Fine Arts in late 2014 or early 2015 next to the Board of Education.
BY DIANE GLIDEWELL
M
onroe County
schools are
building a new
$7.5 million
fine arts auditorium that is
expected to be a big boost to
the arts in the school system.
The auditorium will be a
33,200-square-foot, . It will seat
700 on the main floor, about
350 in the balcony, and 100 on
each side of the main seating
area in removable seating (folding chairs).
The $7.5 million fine arts
auditorium was the crown
jewel of a $33 million Education
Special Purpose Local Option
Sales Tax (E-SPLOST) that
voters approved in March 2013.
Board members have
decided to include a balcony
which will add 4,000 more
square feet of building by
48
using 2,000 square feet less
of the available land in the
footprint of the building. The
chosen design is expected
to offer better acoustics as
entrance in case of inclement
weather. Architect Bob Day
said the design with the balcony provides a parapet wall
that will hide the six-foot air
The middle school chorus and other artistic efforts will have a place to perform once
the school system finishes its Fine Arts Center.
well. Board members are still
debating where to build the
fine arts center.
The balcony will provide
12 feet of coverage over the
conditioning units, which could
not be done as well with the
other design considered. He
said it would actually be possible to hold an event from the
balcony with the audience on
the lawn in front of the building.
Day said the fine arts
auditorium plan that the board
selected is much like the
auditorium in Thomaston with
features that the board members liked in the Lamar County
auditorium incorporated.
He said he found it necessary to make the stage deeper
than he had at first planned
for either design. The distance
from the first row of seats to
the stage is 42 inches. There
is a 12-foot long area in front
of the stage that can be used
for instruments, but there is
not an orchestra pit. There
is a large lobby/display area,
dressing rooms, and restrooms but no prep kitchen for
events in the selected design.
There is a dock-like area for
unloading.
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