High School FINE ARTS RENOVATION.
LIVERPOOL CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
As you walk through the renovated Fine Arts spaces at the Liverpool High School, you will discover, feel, see, and hear the value that has been placed on the arts in the Liverpool Central School District. The transformed spaces now rival ones that you will find on any performing arts space found on university campuses. As Adam Shatraw, Director of Fine Arts, remarked at the ribbon cutting ceremony, “You will discover a community including the administrators, Board of Education members, families, businesses, and District partners that support the arts and arts education with such resounding fervor that facilities like these can be imagined and seen to fruition. As you walk through these beautiful spaces, you will see the spirit of the arts at Liverpool and the commitment by all of those in our community to foster that spirit, to allow it to grow, and flourish.”
The District and design team embarked on a co-creative effort that brought stakeholders into the design process to problem solve and articulate the solutions that reflected the current and anticipated future needs of the Performing Arts programming. Through rigorous team collaboration with the Owner, administrative and user groups, consultants, and construction manager, collective consensus was created to design a facility that reflects the values and goals of the Liverpool community.
The project features an expansive high-bay daylit lobby, an enlarged auditorium with a new mezzanine to accommodate nearly 1,000 seats, and drastic improvements to accessory instructional spaces. The new auditorium features improved sightlines, advanced lighting, sound, and audio/visual systems with a keen understanding of the required acoustical needs of the space. Modernizations to the instructional spaces such as the band, orchestra, and choral rooms, practice and recording rooms, and the performing arts offices were completed to enhance the student experience and opportunities offered. The exterior courtyard space outside the fine arts entrance was designed to provide a welcoming extension of the open lobby space with amphitheater style seating to support a multitude of outdoor performances.
By reimagining the Performing Arts spaces, the Liverpool High School not only has a state-of-the-art facility that reflects the exceptionalism that is their current program but also fosters excitement within the students to develop an interest in pursuing lifelong learning in the performing arts.
Photography: Revette Studio
