“At the October 3rd Barrington 220 Board of Education meeting, the Board heard a presentation from DLA Architects about possibilities for new fine, visual, and performing arts spaces at Barrington High School. The design work for these new spaces was an identified project within the $147 million dollar referendum that Barrington area voters approved in March 2020. The cost to build these new spaces was not included in the referendum.
This school year, nearly half of the BHS student body is enrolled in fine arts courses. In addition to the instructional spaces used for these courses during the school day, the fine arts spaces are utilized for large-scale community events. The auditorium in particular, which was built in 1960, is used 290 days per year for fine arts events, athletic events, curricular-connected events, and community events.
In order to improve these highly utilized spaces, architects presented three options for the Board’s consideration, which were developed after collecting stakeholder feedback during the 2022-23 school year.
- Option 1: This option involves renovating the existing auditorium, as well as fine arts classrooms. The renovated auditorium would have approximately 487 seats. (The current auditorium seats approximately 700, however, it is not ADA-accessible. In order to meet present-day accessibility requirements, there would be less space for seating.) This option also involves building two additions near the auditorium, which include new practice spaces for fine arts students, a larger band room, a green room, a multi-purpose room, a new production shop, and a new fine arts lobby. Larger and more dressing rooms are also included in the renovations. The projected estimate is $45,000,000 – $53,195,000. Click here for details.
- Option 2: This option involves building a new auditorium and renovating existing fine arts classrooms. The renovation will also result in a larger band room, a larger choral room, a larger orchestra room, as well as larger and more dressing rooms. The new auditorium would have approximately 969 seats and be ADA-accessible. This option also involves building a production shop and a new fine arts lobby. The projected estimate is $52,000,000 – $57,020,000. Click here for details.
- Option 3: This option involves building a new auditorium in the same spot as the current auditorium, a new music (band, orchestra, choir) wing, a new flexible space that could serve as an art gallery or community space, larger and more dressing rooms, as well as renovating existing fine arts spaces. The new auditorium would have approximately 1,230 seats and be ADA-accessible. The projected estimate is $68,297,000 – $72,973,000. Click here for details.
The Board of Education will continue reviewing the options at its next regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 17. In addition, the Board will begin discussing ways to gain community feedback about each option. Click here to listen to the full presentation at the Board meeting.”