SFCC raises the roof

A real heavyweight attracted attention Tuesday morning, just outside the South Florida Community College Auditorium, which is currently undergoing a major renovation.

This star of the show was a 25-ton 98-foot steel beam, which once installed, will support the roof and the stage rigging.

After a 650-ton-capacity crane offloaded another larger beam, the work crew signaled the "all clear" for SFCC faculty, staff and students to enter a "safe area" in the construction zone.

The group had gathered to put their signatures on the beam, which will become a piece of SFCC history.

For student Thomas Underwood, it was like a mini break from one of his three summer classes.

"This is a field trip," he joked. "Humanities, we are learning about architectural styles."

Most used the white markers to sign their name along with the year or date.

At least one person drew a smiley face.

"To SFCC - Queen of the Heartland," one person wrote.

"Now I can retire," Doug Andrews, dean of cultural programs, said with a laugh.

Andrews has been joking for years that he just wants the auditorium's roof raised before he retires.

"Now not only are we doing that we are renovating everything; I think it is a message," he said.

SFCC President Norm Stephens said "this has been a dream for many years; I think over a dozen years ago they began talking about raising the fly on the auditorium so that we could accommodate some of the more modern productions."

Along with raising the fly area, the estimated $12.5 million project includes reconfiguring the seating area with new seats spaced farther apart, with the addition of a balcony and box seats.

The capacity will increase slightly from 1,440 to about 1,505.

Everything is going great, said Glenn Little, SFCC vice president of administrative services.

Mathews Construction is doing a great job managing around the weather, he said. They are working double shifts at this point to make sure everything is secure before any heavier wind storms come along.

Oral communications professor Lynn MacNeill remembers around 1976 when then-SFCC President William Stallard asked him on a Monday to draw up plans for a 500-seat auditorium by Friday.

Stallard told MacNeill he was going to Tallahassee and they might be able to get an auditorium.

With matching funds from the state, the auditorium was built with nearly 1,500 seats.

The project is on schedule for completion on Feb. 12, with the first performance on March 1.