Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home School District learned Thursday that it qualified for a $1.4 million grant to upgrade the Sweet Home High School auditorium for earthquake safety.
“We are hopeful that we can continue to work with the Sweet Home Auditorium Remodel Committee to help fund auditorium improvements outside the scope of the grant,” said Business Manager Kevin Strong said in an email to members of the committee. “I’m hopeful that when the work is complete, we will have a safe and inviting auditorium facility that students and community members will take pride in for decades to come.”
The Oregon Legislature committed some $175 million last year to make existing school buildings more seismically stable. The grant program will award $50 million this year and $125 million to schools next year, with an additional $30 million available for emergency services buildings.
Sweet Home School District applied for the grant last year. Since then, SHARC and the School District have been in a holding pattern.
Previously, SHARC replaced the front curtains, repaired and painted the walls and repaired and improved the stage in the past two years.
SHARC has nearly $7,000 saved with the Sweet Home Community Foundation and dedicated to improving the auditorium, replacing sound, lighting and replacing more curtains.
The district has committed $25,000 to lighting as well as replacement of electrical panels and wiring in the building.
Since the district learned about the grant, SHARC and the district decided to hold up until after it was awarded because it wouldn’t make sense to make cosmetic improvements that will be destroyed by construction and because the seismic upgrade might fix other issues as a byproduct, possibly some lighting, for example.
Strong met with SHARC members Monday to talk about the grant and SHARC’s plans going forward.
At this point, he said, construction would take place in summer 2017. The district will need to hire an engineer to develop the project.
Based on engineering information the district used to apply for the grant, the project could move forward by strengthening the bowstring trusses, but that may be more expensive than replacing the entire roof structure.
“The grant itself is to bring the auditorium to life safety standards,” Strong said Monday. In the meantime, “the question is do we want it to look a lot like it looks now, or do we want to look at this as an opportunity to improve upon that? Can we generate community support to really turn this into a performing arts center?”
“I am beyond excited after spending over two years with SHARC fund raising,” said Shirley Austin, a member of SHARC. “This kind of sets everything in motion. We’re going to need the community to step up and realize everything we want to put into it.
“I’d like to start a community theater group. This is the only viable place to do those things.”
Social studies teacher and drama adviser Alain Brown is excited about the possibilities too.
Lighting hangs from the ceiling, but it isn’t used.
“Right now, we are renting these lights because we just don’t have much capacity for the lights we have,” Brown said. “I know it would be great to have new lighting, a sound system.”
The group brainstormed a few ideas, some of which have been on SHARC’s agenda, Monday. Among them are adding a full-size movie screen, replacing the side and backstage curtains, adding acoustic paneling, replacing lighting, redesigning a single prop storage room instead of multiple small rooms, building two dressing rooms and remodeling the lobby.
Strong informed the School Board about the grant Monday evening during its regular board meeting.
In other business, the board, accepted the retirement of Kathi Collins, third grade teacher at Holley effective June 30 and accepted the retirement of SHHS art teacher Gelindo Ferrin effective April 29.
— Approved a math adoption for the sixth through eighth grades for $35,698.75.
— Appointed Brittany Donnell to the Budget Committee.
— Held the second reading of policy updates regarding ethics and conflicts of interest; nepotism; the assessment program; compulsory attendance; drug and alcohol use by students; the tobacco-free environment; and discipline for use, sale possession or distribution of tobacco products or inhalant delivery systems.
— Velma Canfield, librarian at Foster School, told the board that tentative plans are for First Book to deliver 40,000 books to Sweet Home on May 20.
The group is still seeking 60 more forms to meet the requirement to receive the books from the organization.
Check at school libraries for forms. Each form requires registration of a unique email address.