HHS auditorium upgrade continues with new seats

 

New chairs have been purchased for the Holton High School audito­rium, and old chairs will be put up for sale to those wishing to have a piece of their alma mater, although HHS Principal Rod Wittmer said it will be a while before that happens.

But with the purchase of the new chairs, Wittmer said, the HHS auditorium upgrade continues to move forward.

“It’s something that doesn’t hap­pen overnight,” he said. “Last year, we installed new stage lighting, we painted the ceilings, we cleaned out all the air ducts and we purchased new curtains. The next phase was the chairs, as well as getting some bids to paint the side walls.”

Fund-raising efforts also are moving forward, and while Witt­mer said the sale of the old chairs will go toward the costs of up­grading the auditorium, public do­nations are still being sought to cover the related costs.

During the USD 336 Board of Education’s Aug. 8 meeting, board members approved the purchase of new chairs from Heartland Seating of Shawnee to replace the old chairs currently located in the auditorium. The district purchased the 418 chairs — which have a 25-year warranty and a 10-year war­ranty on the fabric — at a cost of $56,676, it was reported.

However, it was noted that the new chairs will cut seating in the auditorium’s lower level by 130 — there are currently 548 seats on the lower level, it was noted. Wittmer said he doesn’t anticipate that being a problem.

“Right now, we never fill up all those seats because nobody can get in and out of them,” he said. “Many of our patrons do not fit into those seats, and the industry standards were 1930 standards when those chairs were put in. But we’re going to squeeze in a few more seats or an extra row wherever we can.”

The main exception to that in­volves elementary school concerts and dance recital programs that at times filled the auditorium to capacity. But with the completion of the new Holton Elementary School, Wittmer said elementary con­certs will be held at that school, rather than in the auditorium.

“The new elementary school has its own stage and gym area,” he said. “So we’ll have two stages within our district to utilize.”

Even with the loss of 130 seats on the auditorium’s lower level, Wittmer said the school’s goal is to keep more than 400 seats on the lower level. That will still give the auditorium more than 575 seats, in­cluding those in the balcony, where there are currently no plans to take out the chairs.

“Those seats aren’t the same model as those on the lower level. They have a higher-backed seat, so they’re not of the same installation, and they’re all in much better shape,” Wittmer said.

As to when the new seats would arrive, Wittmer noted that would depend on how quickly the details for the chairs are finalized.

“There’s a process you have to go through as you finalize all the drawings for the spacing, then choose your colors and fabrics and put orders into the factories to make those chairs,” he said.

But when those new chairs ar­rive, he added, the new ones will come out, about 20 years after they were refurbished. Wittmer said they will be made available for purchase by the general public, and those chairs that are not sold will be salvaged for their metal.

But first, certain pieces of metal — the brass-plated kind — will be salvaged from the chairs. Name plates were installed on the chairs to honor donors for the previous refurbishing project, and Wittmer said he plans to take those plates off the chairs and place them on a new plaque to be displayed in the auditorium “to continue to recog­nize those individuals.”

The last piece of the auditorium upgrade project, Wittmer said, will be the sound system.

“They’ve had upgrades on that throughout the years, and when we made our needs assessment for the auditorium, we made that our last priority,” Wittmer said of the sound system.

Donors will have their name, business or dedications engraved on new brass plants to be attached, based on the level of contribution, to a plaque that will hang in the auditorium. Donation levels include $150, chair level; $1,000, bronze; $2,500, silver; $5,000, gold; and $10,000, platinum.

Donations for the auditorium up­grade are being accepted at the USD 336 district office; flyers with more information are available are at the district office or at the HHS office, it was reported.

For more information, call the district office at 364-3650.

The Holton Recorder

109 W. Fourth St.
Holton, KS 66436
Phone: 785-364-3141
 

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