Auditorium idea leads to Storm Lake High School renovation

Turner saw to it that a committee formed to examine the issue, perhaps to push it forward.

It has rolled ahead, or upward, as the case might be. Travelers on Tornado Drive in Storm Lake can see it towering on the campus' west side. The new auditorium pulled back the curtain on something more, the need for classroom space and classroom and office renovation throughout the 1962 building.

All told, this auditorium idea triggered an $18.6-million construction project financed through the use of School Infrastructure Local Option sales tax dollars and a voter-approved extension of the district's Physical Plant and Equipment Levy. The election took place in December 2012, and garnered well over 50 percent of the vote.

WHAT'S BEING DONE?

First, an addition of 10 classrooms was constructed around a glass office, a space Storm Lake High School students immediately termed "The Fishbowl" upon their move into this space in January. The area will one day contain all the core classes for Storm Lake High School freshmen, giving them their own place as they transition from middle school.

The area also features new science labs with all the modern amenities.

Special education classrooms also were remodeled, and a weight room and fitness area were completed as the school year commenced last August.

Additional classrooms will be renovated this spring, giving way to remodeling of the Storm Lake High School kitchen, commons, administrative offices and guidance office. Those areas should be addressed this calendar year, leaving only a renovation of the existing Storm Lake High School gymnasium to be completed in the summer of 2016.

An auditorium was included in the initial plans for the high school when it was constructed in 1962. However, that part of the plan was shelved for cost considerations. The same thing happened when voters, after a few failed bond issues, finally passed a measure to finance construction of Storm Lake Middle School 22 years ago.

"The original middle school plan also had an auditorium and that didn't pan out either," Turner said.

Officials kept an auditorium off the wish list when presenting plans to the public for the new Storm Lake Elementary School more than six years ago.

"I put an auditorium committee together and we figured the best place to put it was at the high school," Turner said. "But the infrastructure at the high school didn't support it, so that led us to the high school renovation."

The 750-seat auditorium will be looked upon as a community resource, not simply one for school district needs, he said. A holiday performance of "Messiah" is already in the booking stages for the new venue.

For decades, Storm Lake High School musical and dramatic productions have played out on a stage at Storm Lake's South School. While serviceable, it will be a bonus to have the high school performance arts being able to stage shows on campus.

In addition to the auditorium on the west side of the school facility, there's an auxiliary gym being built. Since 1962, Storm Lake High School has operated with one gym on its campus.

The additional space and facilities will help serve a student enrollment that has grown from 1,850 students (K-12) a decade ago to right around 2,450 students this year. Average class sizes are in the 160- to 175-student range, with a couple of elementary classes peaking around 200, Turner said.

"We've grown 200 students in the time I've been here," he said.