State-of-the-art auditorium nearing completion in Solon

SOLON - When Solon High School theater students build large set pieces, they construct them on the auditorium stage. If they put them together anywhere else, they'd never squeeze through the stage doors.

For years, that has meant set pieces often sit on the stage during other, unrelated performances by the one of the school's choirs or bands, said Joel Foreman, the school's choir director.

Foreman said issues of space extend into the auditorium, where large crowds often are squeezed into the 406 available seats.

But come October, all that is changing.

Construction of a new $8.5 million performance space - dubbed the Center for the Arts - is nearing completion. The 38,735-square-foot hall is to feature more than 800 auditorium seats and include additional storage space for the band, a new art room and a full-size lobby, said Mike Kasparek, director of buildings and grounds for Solon Community School District.

About 60 construction workers are at the site everyday, Kasparek said.

The center is connected to the high school, 600 W. Fifth St., but is to be used by all of the nearly 1,300 K-12 students in the school district, Kasparek said. Additionally, some of the space in the building is to be available for the public to rent and the auditorium is to host some community events.

Solon has a population of about 2,000 people.

Among brand-new features - including fly space, an orchestra pit and a complete audiotech setup - Solon students also are to have access to an improved shop for set building and a fully equipped green room.

'We're finally meeting our programs and students in terms of space,” Foreman said.

Nearly half of Solon High students participate in a performing arts program, Foreman said, which includes three concert choirs, five jazz choirs, two jazz bands, a marching band and a concert band. An after-school theater program puts on two shows every year.

Just down the street from the Center for the Arts, a new middle school also is being built. Both facilities were funded by a $25.5 million bond that 70 percent of voters approved in 2014.

Before that vote, the school district built a new football stadium.

Music Department officials backed that allocation of resources, Foreman said, and knew the arts were next in the queue.

'We all want each other's programs to be successful because it's all part of one district all serving the same kids,” he said, noting many students involved in the arts also play at the new Spartan Stadium.

Kasparak said the Solon district aims to keep its programming equal.

'We built the football stadium, and we try to equalize everything - academics, athletics and the arts,” he said.