The Hillsboro City Schools’ new auditorium is about 95 to 97 percent complete, Superintendent Tim Davis said Thursday afternoon.
Things that still need to be finished are redoing the driveway asphalt and updating and completing the sound system, television and overall system. Davis said that for the most part, the auditorium is finished, and the school district is now working on interior design.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said. “Can’t say enough about the guys building it and the architects. It’s just been a long process, but well worth it, and the end result has just been amazing.”
The projected originally cost was $6 million. Davis said Thursday he didn’t know off the top of his head how much it ended up costing.
He said the construction has been smooth and was finished with basically the same design as was originally planned. Seating capacity for the auditorium is 800 people, but because of COVID-19 restrictions, it is currently only allowed to host 200 people at any given time. When originally planned, it was set to be 23,000 square feet.
The auditorium has two entryways, one from outside the school and one from inside. The structure is located at the back of the high school/middle school and in between the building’s two gymnasiums.
“Like I said, right now we’re just trying to finish up the punch list items and finish out the remaining things,” Davis said. “But it’s been a very good process for us.”
The auditorium already hosted its first event — a Junior National Art Society induction ceremony this week. Davis said the school district has not decided on a grand opening event yet, but the school has a musical production coming in the spring.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
