Throughout the summer, the Jefferson – Morgan Middle/Senior High School has went under a series of renovations and additions. The renovations include, repainting the inside of the school, repainting the lockers, adding air conditioning (finally!), and many other needed upgrades. However, one of the biggest renovations is the revamping of the auditorium. This revampment is a particularly important one because this is the part of the building the public sees the most. The renovation of the auditorium includes the following.

First, air conditioning was added to the auditorium, towards the end of the year last year. This is a new feature that no one can argue with. Everyone that has had to sit through a play or graduation ceremony, without air conditioning, knows how hot it could get in there. This discretion would then have a negative impact on what is going on, because we would be more focused on the heat, rather than the performance or graduation. Without air conditioning, people on stage had it rough. The heat from all the people, plus the heat from the lights, would be overwhelming. Again, this had a negative impact, because it would be harder for performers to concentrate on their performance. With the addition of air conditioning, all these problems were solved, and it added to the comfort of the building.

Mr. Orr explains, “we are really happy with the addition of air conditioning to the auditorium. It was really important to us to make this happen because we knew this was a big wish of the students, especially students participating in Drama Club.”

The next set of changes went in reverse. The old seats, carpet, and tile were removed to make room for the new seats, carpet, and tile. This happened over the summer, to reduce distraction during school. The sound and light booth was also gutted to make room for new flooring. After everything was removed, cracks in the floor were fixed, and the floor was leveled. All of this was in preparation for the next set of changes.

“To make everything the way we wanted it to be, we first had to work in the opposite direction. We knew we had to remove the old tile and carpet due to its condition. Not only were the tile and carpet removed, but the old seating was removed to make way for new seats. I think revamping the booth is also a nice bonus,” says Orr.

Starting toward the end of October and the beginning of November, the auditorium will start taking shape. The new tile will go in first, then the new carpet, followed by the new seats, and lastly light strips. These lights will be installed along the edges on the aisles, so that people can see when the lights are dimmed. A cool fact about the seats, is that they are the same ones that are in the CONSOL Energy Center, where the Pittsburgh Penguins play.

“I think the coolest feature about the new auditorium will be the seats. We had to choose between two different styles and the style we went with is the same as CONSOL Energy Center. We will also be adding light strips along the aisles to improve visibility when the lights are off,” said Orr.

As of right now, the auditorium is scheduled to be complete sometime in November, but that can change due to other construction. This will be a nice new feature for the school district. Things are looking up here, in Jefferson.