As school comes to a close, come up for a visit and see the auditorium, it is all gone!  The seats are out, the theater lights are gone, the curtains are down, the lofts are empty and the control booth and sound clouds are dropping fast.  What a great job the students have done clearing out for the upcoming Houlton Community Arts Center renovations.  In just four days, all four lofts filled with costumes, props, sets, scenery and music were emptied and stored in the small gym and a trailer.  There is still some work to do as we have to empty out the three offices and move some instruments to storage, but the majority of the demolition work is complete.

Phase one of the Houlton Community Arts Center is a full renovation of the auditorium including adding a balcony,  new seats, new theater lighting, moving the control booth, expanding the stage,  and upgrading the sound system.  This monumental change is possible because of the funding provided by the Houlton Community Arts Center Council.  There will also be changes in the hallway outside the auditorium and the entry to the cafeteria.  The partnership that HCACC developed with MSAD #29 afforded both entities the opportunity to make major changes on behalf of the school and the community.  This phase of the project is hopefully the start of bigger and better things to come.  With changes to the auditorium complete by November, the next phase will be to raise enough funds for an addition of 13,000 square feet of classrooms, rehearsal areas, and storage.
When school starts up in late August, the challenge that the music department will face is that the auditorium will not be finished.  With all the major structure work that has to happen, we hope to have the auditorium ready for the fall musical in late November.
Losing access to the auditorium for a few months will also be a challenge to the music programs.   Currently the auditorium is used everyday for rehearsals, instrument storage and it also contains Mr. Mania’s office.  With the changes planned, we lose the office on stage, storage on the wings of the stage, and the loft storage above the wings.  Although the end result will be a state-of-the-art auditorium, this will also force the music department to work in closer quarters than we currently do.  Rehearsals for our groups and for the musical will all need to fit into one room.  What a challenge!  With less access to the auditorium and the loss of storage and a teaching space, it will bring to the fore front the need to quickly move ahead with phase two of the project.
Phase two includes a new band room, separate chorus room, bringing the art room to this end of the school, new offices and new practice rooms.  We know we need this new space.   We are excited phase one has started and are looking into the not-so-distant future for phase two.  Look for updates on the HCAC website www.houltonarts.org.

The Houlton Community Arts Center Council is happy to receive $1,000 from the Bangor Savings Bank Community Matters More program.  Although we were not considered for the top prize, we were glad to be recognized for being a leader in change for the community.  Thank you Bangor Savings Bank!