• The core of the music area is represented by two rehearsal rooms. The two rooms are shared by all of the bands, choirs, and orchestra as well as Music Theory and other co-curricular groups. You may notice all of the Wenger sound panels on the walls and ceiling. Believe it or not, our room came without these. It took some convincing to get them added after the fact (and after a painful marching season in this room - boy was it loud!).
  

• The floors in both rooms are flat, with no carpet. We requested this for various reasons, mostly accoustical reasons. We are happy with the versatility of the spaces as well as the over-all volume of the room. This would not have been the case if the floor had built in teirs. Also, carpeting tends to absorb much of the higher frequencies, leaving the room boomy - and still loud. Tile was the end product (we asked for wood - oh well, you can't have everything).

• Click here (or on the graphic above) for a large (1.4 MB) Quicktime VR movie of one of our two rehearsal rooms (B136). Here is a small version (200K).

• Below is a short Quicktime movie of a camera panning across the room. Click the pic to see it.

Here's a shot of the 2nd rehearsal room...

 

• The layout (shown on the previous page) is very close to what we hoped for. Actually, we really wanted a third rehearsal room, but that was one of those items that didn't clear the chopping block. We appreciate having the students' instrument storage at the back of the area. This helps with securing instruments and makes better use of traffic patterns. Students have special lockers to place bookbags before entering the rehearsal rooms.

• The proscenium is 48 feet wide and 22 feet high.
• The stage is 80 feet wide.
• The fly loft extends up to a walkable grid at 53 feet and proceeds to the roof which is 63 feet above the stage floor.
• Strategicly placed baffles throughout the ceiling of the house send sound to all seating areas. This, coupled with the volume, dimensions and mix of materials, combine to provide an acousticly sound performance venue.
• There are 32 rigging lines, and 5 electric lines.
• 3 hydraulic rigging lines carry 3 rows of Wenger sound panels. The panels, or "clouds", can be lowered or raised well out of the way when not in use.
• A portable Wenger system of shells rolls in or out of storage to provide a wall surrounding the back and sides of the stage.
• A Scene Shop is adjacent to the stage. Sets are built in this area to keep the stage free during productions.
• Men's and Women's Dressing Rooms and a Makeup Room are used extensively by the Drama department.

• The pit is covered with a Wenger Corp. series of removable panels and supports. During productions where the pit is required, the panels are removed to reveal a deep pit that holds as many as 25-30 orchestra members. Otherwise, the cover stays in place to effectively extend the stage in front of the proscenium.

• The house seats 719 on the ground floor. The balcony seats 301. Sight-lines from almost any location in the house are quite good. The layout serves to provide a rather intimate feeling.

• The entryway to the Performing Arts Center is large enough to hold small receptions, however, many after-concert receptions are held in the commons (cafeteria). Its location - conveniently adjacent to the foyer - accomodates much larger crowds.

• The Music Library serves many practical uses. It houses thousands of pieces of sheet music for all the large ensembles, solo and ensemble literature, books and texts, method books, and recordings. A copy machine facilitates small copy tasks. Sorting areas make music distribution and collection much easier and more organized.

Music Library All band, jazz band, orchestra, and marching band selections are boxed and catalogued electronicly for acurate reference and easy searching.

Wenger Corporation Sound Modules We actually gave up some practice rooms when it came down to the final planning of the music area in exchange for adequate storage (and we're glad we did). The Wenger sound modules are ideal for practice. From individual work to ensembles of up 10 students, these are used extensively.

Wenger Corporation Storage System We were very pleased that our storage area for school and student instruments was constructed of the correct materials. After many trips to new schools where inadequate shelving was used, we were determined to get something that would stand up to the everyday abuse. So far, so good ...

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