School district okays design for high school performing arts centers

SHOWTIME—A rendering of what the new high school performing arts centers would look like. The facilities at Agoura and Calabasas high schools were approved in a $128-million 2006 school bond. A pair of performing arts education centers proposed for Agoura and Calabasas high schools have moved one step closer to construction. The Las Virgenes Unified School District on Sept. 23 approved John Sergio Fisher's architectural design plans for the two facilities.

The Reseda architect presented a project overview to the board of education and said each center will comprise 31,500 square feet and include a 660-seat theater and 100-seat "black box theater," a smaller, more versatile space for some productions.

The orchestra pits will be on lifts and can be raised and lowered, which could provide extra seating when needed. Professional theater lighting will be installed and flexible catwalks will enable the schools to produce shows in the theater-in-the-round style.

The new centers will have curved roofs and acoustical panels for better sound projection.

According to Fisher, the theaters will be equipped to handle touring shows, and the lobby area with large windows will be designed to accommodate art exhibits.

"This (will) become a beacon at night for the arts," Fisher said. Outdoor plazas will be available for exhibits and concessions.

Fisher said both theaters were initially designed to be identical, but that the plans for the Calabasas center were later changed. Agoura High's center will be three stories and Calabasas two. The centers will have identical square-footage.

Prop shops, costuming areas, dressing rooms, public lobbies and box offices are also part of what Fisher described as a "sustainable" and "green" design. Solar panels are being considered even though the cost is high, said Superintendent Donald Zimring.

The concrete construction will help control costs since the medium acts as a thermal device, heating and cooling the building naturally.

"It's very energy efficient," Fisher said.

The centers also will offer educational opportunities. Students interested in architecture, engineering, design and construction will be able to learn the process firsthand.

"We will expose all elements of construction," Fisher said about the educational opportunities for teachers and students.

Board member Dave Moorman said he liked the idea of using the construction process as an educational tool. Access to plans, budgets and sustainability elements of the design would allow teachers in many disciplines to integrate reallife problem solving into daily lessons, he said.

Fisher said construction will be documented through video to meet the educational goals.

Now that the design plans have been approved, Team Concepts, a school construction firm headed by Don Blake, will submit the plans to the Department of State Architecture for approval by February 2009. Blake said the DSA takes about 10 months to approve projects, which translates into construction beginning around January 2010.

The centers were the first projects to be funded from Measure G, the $128-million bond measure approved by voters in 2006. The cost to design and build performing arts centers is $50 million.