Community meeting held at BHS to unveil proposed auditorium project

One of the final pieces of the school desegregation plan in 2015 was a capital outlay plan to make improvements at several of the schools in Avoyelles Parish. The final project was the construction of an auditorium at Bunkie Magnet High. One of the first steps of constructing the auditorium was taken on April 6, when a community meeting was held to get input on what they would like to see built at the school. The meeting was held in the school’s gymnasium, where the auditorium will be constructed.

Plans call for the auditorium to be built at the west end of the gym where students are dropped off and picked up by school buses. Some suggested, before the meeting, the auditorium should be constructed on the north end of the gym and look at moving the dressing rooms for the boys and girls. The idea was rejected because of cost of locating existing wiring and plumbing.

“We wanted input from the community before the final plans are designed and bids are given to the contractors,” Superintendent of Schools Blaine Dauzat said.

Dauzat said no date has been given to start construction because the final plans are not finished. The hope is to have construction started in early to mid-2018.

Architect Jim Guillory said the projected cost will be $575,000 plus architect fees. The school board has budgeted $650,000 for the project. He estimated the construction to take eight to nine months.

Guillory addressed the crowd and said the addition will be a 3,000 square feet metal building extending from the west wall of the current gym out to the area where students catch the bus. Guillory said the catwalks and street for the buses will have to be moved just a few feet to locate the building which will go out 80 feet.

The stage will be three and a half feet above the floor. The opening in the gym will be 18 feet high and 35 feet wide taking up most of the west wall.

There will be dressing rooms and two single restrooms. Plans call for a retractable projection screen with video projector. Audio system, lighting and curtain will be added along with a handicap ramp to the stage.

School Board member Van Kojis said construction needs to start as quickly as possible because each year the cost of the project rises $20,000 to $30,000.

There was some discussion on why a new stand alone building would not be constructed. Guillory told the group the cost of a stand-alone building would run about $3.5 to $4 million to construct and equip.

Dan Stone, the music teacher at Bunkie High, said constructing the auditorium with the gym was bad because of lighting and acoustics. He added if a stand-alone building is not constructed why build the auditorium because it will not be a good stage for performances.

“Our hands are tied based on the desegregation order. The judge and all sides agreed to this project, which helped us get unitary status,” Dauzat said. “I would love to say we can build a stand-alone auditorium, but we can’t because we are also strapped for funds. We don’t have $3.5 million to build a new building.”

School Board member Lizzy Ned said she mentioned a multi-purpose building during the court hearings on desegregation, but the funds were the number one reason it couldn’t be built. She was also worried about the acoustics and if there would be enough space. Ned ended by saying she would still be in support for a multi-purpose building.

“We can’t go with a stand-alone building because we would be in contempt of court for not following the desegregation court order,” Kojis said.

APSD Maintenance Supervisor Steve Marcotte said improvements to the lighting and acoustics can be made to the auditorium as more funds become available. He assured the group the project would be nice once completed.

“We have completed eight of the 10 projects ordered by the courts. The ninth one, a media center at Plaucheville Elementary, is under construction,” Marcotte said. "Each one has come out very nice when completed.”

Bunkie Councilman Lem Thomas felt Bunkie High was not getting the best and called the auditorium a second-rate facility. He said a first-rate facility would be one the next generation could enjoy.

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