Students put their signatures on a piece of Avon High School history

AVON — The names of current Avon High School music and theater students will be a permanent piece of the school's new performing arts center after students on Thursday signed beams that are being used in the construction project. Construction is well underway, and the facility is expected to be finished sometime this fall. Other related improvements to the school should be completed before the start of next school year, including new office space and an expanded kitchen and cafeteria. The beams with students' signatures will be visible on the second floor of the performing arts center once it is completed. Avon High School's current auditorium seats about 600 people, and Principal Kristina Buller said having a facility better suited for the 1,462 students who currently attend the school will be a blessing. "It also allows for a lot of flexibility as an academic institution to be able to host events in venues where the entire student body — or even half the student body because we can't even fit half right now — does have the opportunity to attend," she said. At least 44 percent of students at the school are involved with performing arts in some way, between band, orchestra, vocal music and theater programs. Buller said having more seating will benefit both those students and their families. "There are certain productions that their parents, their fan clubs, are closed out of because we have to do limited seating," she said. As students prepared to sign the beams with black and purple markers, Superintendent Mike Laub told them the performing arts center is being built "for you guys." He said school staff will take students to see where the beams are located after the facility is completed. Laub also praised the construction workers who are building the project and encouraged students to be grateful for where the funding came from. The new performing arts center and improvements were made possible by a 36-year, 0.98-mill bond issue that Avon voters supported in November 2019. Over its duration, the levy will raise $17.5 million. "We need to be thankful and care about the fact that people cared enough about you to vote yes," Laub told the students. "I'm excited. I can't wait to see the finished product." On a tour of the construction site given to a few Avon staff members and members of the media following the beam signing, Avon Schools Director of Operations Bill Fishleigh pointed out some features of the performing arts center that are starting to take shape. A lobby on the west side of the building will include a separate entrance so audience members will not have to pass through classroom or cafeteria space before reaching the auditorium. There will also be a new primary entryway to the school built as part of the project. While the area that will soon be full of auditorium seating is still mostly flat, the spaces that will become the stage and orchestra pit are identifiable. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.