Board approves plan for new student center

Earlier this month, the Board of Trustees voted to move forward with the construction of a new performing arts center on campus.
The Board approved a recommendation that the district build a new student center in the place of the existing Emily Gates Student Center. The move came after a school site committee found that building a new student center would be the most cost-effective way to address the needs of students and staff.
“[The site committee] did the cost comparison and felt that from an engineering and efficiency perspective, it makes sense when you’re talking this kind of money on a very old building,” Executive Director of Facilities Mike Woolard said at the meeting. “It makes sense to do the new construction and get the facility that you need that will last another 50 years.”
The plan calls for the construction of a new performing arts center that will fit within the existing footprint of the current student center. According to a presentation given at the board meeting, the new student center will likely no longer be octagonal and will have enough seating for 250 audience members. No final cost estimates have been released, but the cost of the project is not expected to exceed $8 million. A schematic will be presented at a board meeting on June 5, according to several engineers familiar with the matter.