Scituate High School’s beloved auditorium is one of the most important rooms in the building. It is home to 416 seats, a lighting board; dozens of lights; two follow spot lights; a sound board; five curtains; and hosts various arts, music, and other gatherings for the town of Scituate. However, SHS was last renovated in 2000. It’s been almost 12 years, and the time has come for the auditorium to get a face lift.

    According to Mr. Richter, Program Specialist of Music for grades K-12, the auditorium is getting re-modeled in a “four-tier” process. Plans for this renovation began at the start of last summer, as designs were laid out for the replacements of certain aspects of the auditorium. While the space is not getting any bigger, many important features of the auditorium will be replaced.

    “The seating is the first to be dealt with,” said Mr. Richter. In the 2000 remodeling of SHS, the current seats were deemed too new to replace at the time. As a result, more than 12 years of student use has added to the wear-and-tear of the existing chairs. On Oct. 2, the School Committee finalized the bid for Highland Seating, of Stoughton, MA, to pay and begin work on the seats in the auditorium. Mr. Richter also noted that along with the seats, the purple rug will be replaced.

    Along with the seats, the plan will also replace the curtains on the stage. While the black curtains are newer, the front blue curtain has been in use since long before the 2000 renovation. All the curtains will be completely refurbished, and the front blue curtain will be replaced.

    Third, certain aspects of sound will be updated. While the project will not replace the sound board itself, the project calls for: on-stage monitors, so that performers can hear themselves on stage, “shotgun” mics at the front of the stage, better amplification for the entire space, and better recording capabilities.

    “Instead of relying on the microphones on their cameras,” said Mr. Richter of those recording auditorium activities, “people can plug in their cameras to the sound board and get a live feed from the sound system.” This will be a dramatic change from the amateur-style recording of the past.

    Finally, the lights in the auditorium are being completely revamped. By employing Advanced Lighting Production Services (ALPS), the auditorium has acquired a new light board, which came free with a four-hour student training session. On Oct. 11, students gathered in the lighting both to get a hands-on experience with the new equipment. Two brand new spotlights will also be added, replacing the older, barely-working spots.

   Seniors Katie Bogusz and Drew McDonald both agree that the upgrades to the light and sound will give people the chance to experience “real-life theatre,” and hope that the additions will get more people involved with the Drama Club’s tech department, while greatly improving the qualities of the performances given in the auditorium, such as plays or open mic nights.

    Another important addition to the auditorium is a Genie, which will replace the ladder used to reach the lights. This is a major improvement in safety for the auditorium, as the 24 new lights, as well as the pre-existing lights can be moved and repaired without the use of a rickety old ladder.

    Senior Rachael Gaughan, Co-President of the SHS Thespian Society, is delighted to hear of the changes being made to the auditorium, calling it “a big improvement.”

    “The drama club has gotten used to the materials that we have in the auditorium, but using more high-tech stuff will definitely improve the quality of our performances, and give people a chance to explore wide range creativity,” she says.

    With the school committee indefinitely approving the bid for the new seats, Mr. Paul Donlan, Director of Business and Finance for Scituate Public Schools, has also approved the purchases of the new lights, new sound systems, and curtains for the auditorium. According to Mr. Donlan, both Dr. Martin and Ms. Nuzzo are both on board with the project, and the school committee has approved the budget to purchase the new equipment.

    “Our hope is to have everything completed by the end of January,” Mr. Donlan said.

   With the budget approved, and plans and equipment rolling in, the auditorium renovation is currently underway. While the class of 2012 will only experience the new space as students for a limited amount of time, Scituate High School will soon be home to a new performance space, where assemblies, theatre productions, and music spectacles alike can be seen. The new outlook of Scituate High School’s Auditorium will bring those who use it into a refurbished, funny revamped performance space.