Citywide fundraising efforts raised more than $1.6 million in less than three months for the facility, which will be located on the Saratoga High School campus. While school parents were instrumental in the campaign, local businesses and community members not affiliated with Saratoga High also contributed to the PAL Center. Fundraisers had to have the amount—which was 90 percent of total costs—in cash by June 6 in order to award a construction contract to the lowest bidder.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 10 for the $7.2 million project. "The fact that we're breaking ground and this thing is going up is extremely satisfying to me," said Saratoga High Principal Kevin Skelly, the school's driving force for the project.

A week earlier, the Los Gatos­Saratoga Union High School District Board of Trustees had awarded the contract to West Bay Builders. The board meeting had been well-attended, with the audience breaking into applause as a check for $3.4 million was presented to the board and as a unanimous vote was taken.

"This is nothing but a testament to the extraordinary generosity of our community," said Bill Barmeier, board member of the Saratoga High School Foundation. According to Barmeier, the foundation raised, in total, more than $3.6 million, with another $3.1 million for the project funded by the school district's bond money.

The remaining 10 percent of the project must be raised by mid-2004 in order to complete construction. "Obviously, we are not done," Barmeier added.

Barmeier recalled appearing before the board in late 2000, when he assumed the project would cost $3 to $4 million and believed it would be raised by the following June. Although the process took longer than originally expected, it was the "Final Push" campaign over the past few months that "really was a race to the finish line," Barmeier said later.

Skelly said more than 1,000 people contributed to the cause. The fundraising campaign "did things to bring the Saratoga community together," he said. "It was overwhelming, is the best description I have."

Barmeier said the effort involved "lots of different people, lots of volunteers from different parts of the community—not all parents. And that's one of the strengths of the campaign."

Those not involved with the school included downtown business Patrick James, which donated proceeds from a day of sales, and Bella Saratoga owner Bill Cooper, who not only organized an ongoing restaurant donation program but also provided the food for a June 3 celebration party.

"We are so extremely grateful to our donors and our fundraisers," Barmeier said.

The project also owes its success to Skelly, Barmeier said, who has been a true leader and a "source of eternal optimism."

"That's part of his legacy," said Mike Boitz, the school's director of instrumental music. "It certainly has taught me a lot about what it means to give."

Boitz is one of the teachers who will benefit from the center, since his band and orchestra students will use it as a home base for concerts and other performances. The "biggest burnout factor" for his job, he said, has been dealing with facilities. Saratoga students must perform either in the school's gym or elsewhere, such as Los Gatos High School, West Valley College or local churches.

"We're never going to not fill that space," Boitz said. "I really believe in the vision that Kevin has for the PAL."

"It brings a whole new dimension to the school and the community," said Kathleen Woods, fine arts department chairwoman. The facility "will meet the talent and the program that we already have in place. ... Students will have the opportunity to work in a true performance space."

Also, Woods foresees the facility serving as a stage for professional groups, as well as a venue for summer drama programs and for thespian society events. "It means many more possibilities, both educationally and professionally," Woods said.

Barmeier said the foundation will next shift its focus to other projects. "We exist principally to fund capital projects identified by the high school," he said. But that does not mean it has ended fundraising for the PAL Center.

The foundation has more than a year to raise the remaining $700,000. "We clearly have a task to finish," Barmeier said. "The PAL Center will be a landmark in our community for years to come. Both the facility and the community effort to build it should make us proud."