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Coming Soon: A Theater Near You

Courtesy to Highlands Today from South Florida Community College

This architectural rendering shows a view of the balconies at the South Florida Community College auditorium design development level drawings, which are subject to change before becoming final construction bid documents.

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By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: August 29, 2008

AVON PARK - Rural Florida isn't New York, but when South Florida Community College finishes renovating, its auditorium will be able to host Broadway musicals and elaborate road shows.

Plans were revealed Wednesday to the Board of Trustees for a 1,538-seat auditorium, when it's remodeled next year, said Bill Hanser, principal at Schwab Twitty & Hanser Architects of West Palm Beach.

"There will be 1,005 orchestra level seats," said Bill Krzaczek, the project manager. Orchestra seats are what they're calling the floor seats. Elevators will take 347 patrons to the balcony, which isn't there today.

"There isn't a second floor today," said Krzaczek. But there will be, and it will have its own restrooms. A concession stand will be at the back of the split-level lobby, at the main auditorium doors.

"At the entrance, there are now five doors," Hanser said. "There will be eight."

Work begins after the Artist Series wraps up on April 7, and by December 2009, they'll have 184 elegant side boxes which jut eight feet over the orchestra seats, Krzaczek said.

"The side boxes will be a really great place to sit," said Hanser. "They will be elevated, and closer to the stage."

The most remote seats in the auditorium will be 25 feet closer to the stage. Even so, each seat will have more leg room, Krzaczek said.

The budget adopted by the SFCC board in May included $3.2 million in renovations to the auditorium at the Avon Park campus. Glenn Little, college vice president for administrative services, said with a fundraising effort, the budget may rise to $10-11 million.

Trustee Richard Maenpaa asked if there will be more entrance and exit doors.

"Fifteen hundred people try to get out those two little doors," he said.

Fifty percent of the people will always go out the front doors, because that's the way they came in, Hanser answered. But for the rest, there will be two side doors, which will empty into the parking lots. There will also be two more emergency exits near the stage.

Magic is about what the audience can see, and what they can't.

"There's an area in the back of the stage, where the scenery flies up in the air," said Little. The back and side walls of the sets, which can contain doors, windows, even furniture, is hoisted on a pulley system, called pipe battens.

"They call that the fly space," said Little. "But to get it out of the way, there's a small section of the stage that's taller than the rest of the auditorium. That's where the sets go."

The problem in the past has been that some sets, especially the ones brought in by traveling shows, are taller than the fly loft in the roof. So the bottom of the sets could still be seen, sticking out above the stage.

"So the stage was limited to short pieces of scenery," said Krzaczek.

"We've had some Broadway-type musicals that had large, tall sets," said Little. "They simply couldn't unload the truck. They had to leave out half the stuff, which we paid to see."

The acoustics also will improve, Krzaczek said. "Parallel walls give echoes. The walls will be splayed." Not curved, but tilted to reflect the sound back to the audience.

The dressing rooms will be upgraded, and three samples of chairs will be brought in, from three manufacturers. The trustees will be able to sit in each one, and select the most comfortable.

Finally, the proscenium, the audience's view of the stage, will be opened six feet taller to give the audience a better view of the scenery.

"We haven't gone to bids yet," said Little. "We don't know real cost of the project. If we really want to make it grand, we'll need some help from private donations. It's our intention to go out to people who have supported us in the past, and see if we can get donations. In some cases, they'll be anonymous; in some cases they'll have naming rights. We'll also make an additional funding request to the state."

BY THE NUMBERS

1977 Original auditorium constructed

1,452 Current seating capacity

1,538 Reconfigured seating capacity

2,400 Current lobby square footage

5,200 Reconfigured lobby square footage

Source: Schwab Twitty & Hanser

Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863 386-5828

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