$6M Hillsboro (Ohio) High School Auditorium to Open Fall 2020

Hillsboro City Schools has contracted with Woolpert to provide full design services for its $6-million high school auditorium. The new auditorium will be 23,000 square feet, seat 800, and include flexible space for changing rooms and/or locker rooms.

Hillsboro High School, located about 60 miles east of Cincinnati, has an enrollment of approximately 750 students. Woolpert Project Manager Todd Ford, a 2002 Hillsboro graduate, said the design of the auditorium will mesh with the existing school and include technology and amenities specific to the school’s needs.

“There will be a 40-inch-high stage, which creates optimal viewing from all seats, LED lighting and acoustical design to ensure those on stage are properly seen and heard by the crowd,” Ford said. “Hillsboro will be one of the few schools in the area that can hold its entire school population in its auditorium, and we want to ensure they are served appropriately and effectively.”

The main entrance for the auditorium will be through the high school building, which Ford said will support safety and security for students and staff. The parking lot will be reconfigured to allow for this school expansion but retain the same amount of parking spaces.

Woolpert has performed a facility master plan, and Ford has performed multiple design projects at the high school. Ford said Woolpert’s acquisition of Waller, Todd & Sadler Architects in January has deepened and broadened Woolpert’s educational design capabilities.

“Waller, Todd & Sadler’s experience with K-12 and higher education facilities is nationally known and highly respected,” Ford said. “They know the ins and outs of high school auditoriums from ideal row breaks to ADA requirements to subsurface drainage to the pros and cons of orchestra pits. Their expertise is invaluable and will be well utilized for this and future projects.”

The Hillsboro High School auditorium project is in the design phase and is expected to go out to bid in August. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall, and the auditorium is projected to make its debut in the fall of 2020.

For more information, visit woolpert.com.

Featured

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • Photo courtesy of Kraus-Anderson

    Minnesota District Completes $49.7M Addition, Renovation Project

    St. Paul Public Schools in St. Paul, Minn., recently announced the completion of a $49.7-million addition and remodeling project at two district schools, according to a news release.

  • KWK Architects Announces Full Transition to Lawrence Group Branding

    KWK Architects recently announced that it will complete its transition to the Lawrence Group brand effective July 1, according to a news release. The merger marks the end of a three-year strategic integration process that began in March 2023 to unite the firms.

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.