By Carol P. Bartold     

Aug. 19, 2015:  As summer vacation approaches its end, work on the auditorium renovation and reconstruction at The Bronxville School moves into its final stages.

The target completion date is September 8, the first day of the 2015-2016 school year. The school plans to host a public open house at the new auditorium on Thursday, September 17.

Inside the auditorium, the existing stage is extended out toward the audience with the addition of an apron. 

Fixed seating both on the ground level and in the restored center balcony has been installed.

Flexible seating areas, compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, have been built into the auditorium. On the ground level, the flexible seating areas flank the installed seats. In addition, space has been provided at the back of the seating to accommodate handicapped seating. Side balconies have been built that will also accommodate flexible and handicapped seating and will provide direct ingress to and egress from the school's second-floor corridor.

The new auditorium will boast a seating capacity increased to 508 from the former 347 seats. The fixed seating configuration also provides better sight lines for students and patrons.

The renovated auditorium design includes a significant amount of woodwork on the ceiling, balcony railings, and separator for the flexible seating areas on the ground level.

Interior work still to be completed includes leveling of the existing stage with the new apron extension and installation of lighting, sound, and other technical equipment in the auditorium ceiling and the control room, which sits behind the center balcony.

A brand-new, approximately 1,500-square-foot lobby, built and appointed to blend with the architecture of the school building, will provide an entrance to the auditorium from the outside and directly from the school's first-floor corridor.

Construction crews have topped the lobby with a copper roof.

Outside, work continues on the patio, steps, and ramp, as well as the sidewalks that will lead from the street and from the school's front door to the lobby.

Concrete forms for the ramp and other portions of the patio have been poured.

"The budget is in good shape," said Dan Carlin, assistant superintendent for business, "and all the delays we're experiencing now are a result of our original general contractor walking off the job in December." Since terminating the general contractor, the district has worked with the surety to complete the project in as timely a manner as possible.

Construction on the auditorium began with demolition in February of 2014.

Plans for the auditorium reconstruction and renovation took shape in early 2012 and gained momentum that October when Bronxville voters approved up to a $5 million fifteen-year bond to help finance capital improvements at the school.

The Bronxville Board of Education approved the use of $2 million from the district's reserves for capital improvements. The Bronxville School PTA raised over $1.2 million for the auditorium project and secured a matching $600,000 gift from an anonymous donor with its "Final Act" fund-raising initiative. Those funds, combined with donations through The Bronxville School Foundation, provided approximately $3 million in private funding toward the auditorium work.

Pictured here (top):  Dan Carlin standing in the almost-completed Bronxville School auditorium.

Photos by A. Warner