Theater officials established a timeline for renovations in Gold Star Memorial Building.
Callie Dewees and Harrison Langford, acting juniors, drafted a petition in February requesting improvement of the facilities in Clara E. Jones Administration Building and Gold Star.
The petition asked for safer floors in the Gold Star basement and soundproofed walls in its classrooms.
Jeff Cochran, associate professor of stage and production management and director of global initiatives, is in charge of overseeing the renovations.
The two classrooms on the south side of the basement were finished last week. Cochran said the third floor is scheduled to be soundproofed during Christmas break. Construction will begin on the two acting studios on the north side in January.
The acting studios mainly will be used for the acting and theater performance programs. One of the two classrooms on the south side is designated for design and production classes and the other for theater classes.
Cochran said plans to repair Gold Star were always in the works, and the process is being done in phases.
“There was a phase one… a phase two… a phase three,” Cochran said. “We knew the initial timeline on phase one. We didn’t have specific timelines on phases two and three.”
Brian Parsons, associate dean of the school of theater, spoke about the renovations at the monthly theater school convocation. He said he feels confident about the progress and believes everything will continue as planned.
Dewees said she’s pleased with the changes, even though they’re not complete yet.
“I feel like the faculty is making an active effort to improve the spaces,” she said. “Obviously they still have work that they haven’t gotten to yet that they would like to do, but I’m satisfied with the changes they’ve made so far.”
Cochran said it’s normal for construction to take longer than expected.
He also said, despite the difficulties and delays, he’s satisfied with the renovations thus far.
“There’s just a lot of stuff going on campus, and facilities are doing their best to handle everybody’s projects around campus,” Cochran said. “Honestly, we’re in a really good place and excited for the extra space.”
Editor’s note: Harrison Langford is a columnist for Student Publications. He did not participate in writing or editing this story.
Leave a Reply