SHS performing arts center gets council's endorsement
By Kara Chalmers
The Saratoga City Council at its Jan. 3 meeting went on record supporting Saratoga High School's proposed performing arts and lecture center to be used by the high school and the community at large.
The Saratoga High School Foundation, formed in September, is raising funds for the center, which is expected to cost $7.5 million. So far, the foundation has raised $1 million from private donors. More than $3 million, from the $79 million bond Measure B passed in 1998 for schools, will also be used to fund the center. The foundation plans to solicit the rest of the money from private donors and grants.
"The grassroots campaign has been very successful," said Dave Schirtzinger, who is the executive director of the foundation and also the assistant athletic director at the high school.
SHS Principal Kevin Skelly had asked council members, in a letter dated Nov. 1, to endorse the foundation's goal of creating a center.
"We wanted to make sure the city council acknowledged the need for a facility of this type in our community," Schirtzinger said as the reason for Skelly's request. The foundation only asked for the council's support, and did not ask for a monetary donation, Schirtzinger said.
The center would be built on the corner of Herriman Drive and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, and would displace 20 parking spaces and some grass. It would be 14,000 square feet, Schirtzinger said, and would have 600 seats. Dressing rooms are included in the plans, as well.
When the high school was designed and constructed in 1958, plans included an auditorium, which was never built, Schirtzinger said.
The first design phase for the center is expected to be completed by March, Schirtzinger said, and construction is planned for June 2002, so that the center could open in fall 2003.
Schirtzinger said that the high school would open up the center to the Saratoga community at large, to use for lectures, town hall meetings, and cultural events. The Civic Theater, which is today used for city council meetings, commission meetings and performing arts shows, is located next to city hall in Saratoga and has only 300 seats.
Today, the high school's performing arts groups--the drama and theater groups, vocal musical groups, the speech and debate club and bands and orchestras--use churches, Los Gatos High School, West Valley College and Saratoga High School's gymnasium for performances. SHS's Little Theater only has seating for 150 and no dressing rooms.
According to Schirtzinger, 40 percent of the student body participates in performing arts.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
