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Manvel HS auditorium has open house
Published October 15, 2009
MANVEL — In his two years involved with the drama program at Manvel High School, Matthew Proctor had to work in a cramped room to help put on plays while the school’s auditorium still was under construction.
“It wasn’t entirely complete,” the sophomore said of past performances.
As he showed people around the new 817-seat campus auditorium during its grand opening Tuesday night, Proctor had a wide smile.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “We are very fortunate to have it.”
The 26,100-square-foot auditorium was the last piece of the second phase of the school’s construction, which also included additional classrooms. The $20.7 million second phase was funded by bonds approved by Alvin ISD voters in 2005 and will increase student capacity by 1,000.
“If you can’t tell, we are very thrilled to have our new facilities,” Manvel High Principal Darrell Alexander said. “We are very proud of what’s been built here.”
The auditorium has a professional audio system, an orchestra pit and a backstage that includes dressing rooms and an area to build props and stage sets.
“As we use the space, we will love it a little more,” said Jennifer Thompson-Rogers, director of the school’s drama department.
After walking through a window-covered foyer, visitors can enter the spacious, red-brick auditorium in three different doorways. The auditorium floor is shaped in a semicircle that descends as it approaches the stage and orchestra pit.
The ceiling has various rectangular panels leading to the lights over the stage.
The backstage area is accessible by two hallways along the walls. On the other side of the curtain, the deep stage has a huge space for several backdrops and the dressing rooms, prop rooms and prep area.
The auditorium hosted its first event, an Alvin ISD school board meeting, after the open house Tuesday night that included a performance by the district’s honor choir.
While the trustees spent their evening celebrating the opening of a new facility, once the meeting began, they had to prepare for more future expansions.
Trustees voted unanimously to finalize a deal for 15 acres in the Shadow Creek Ranch subdivision west of Pearland for the district’s 14th elementary school. The subdivision’s tax increment reinvestment zone is donating the land to the district, Deputy Superintendent Tommy King said.
The district also is preparing for a $70 million bond issue on the Nov. 3 ballot that will fund two new schools and a replacement for Mark Twain Elementary and lay the foundation for a third high school.
Board President Pete Vincent said the district’s student growth is driving the need for additional campuses.
As he strolled through the Manvel High School auditorium Tuesday night, he said it was nice to see one needed project completed.
“This is the crown jewel of Manvel,” he said.
While several drama students ushered curious onlookers through the auditorium Tuesday, they will now continue to get ready for their first performance, Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.”
The open back stage and additional seats for the audience will definitely change the experience, Proctor said.
“It’s just a lot of fun now,” he said.
John Tompkins is senior reporter for The Facts. Contact him at 979-849-8581.
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