The M-A PAC: Center of Attention
Photo Credit: Eric Evans
The PAC dazzles at night
With a 32 million dollar budget and 493 seats, Menlo-Atherton’s greatly anticipated Performing Arts Center is having its grand opening on October 9th and 10th.
For years Menlo-Atherton High School planned to build an extravagant Performing Arts Center, and it has finally completed the task. The building stands at 80 feet tall and will be used primarily for musical productions and theater performances. Covering a total of 32,000 square feet, the Performing Arts Center features a 2,000 square foot cafeteria, which will mainly be used in the wintertime.
M-A principal Matthew Zito feels that the Performing Arts Center is a “legacy building” that will stand the test of time. Proposed for at least seven years now, the construction of this complex was delayed due to size issues, and had been almost cancelled three times. Not only did the architects, Hogetts + Fung, have to adhere to a tight budget, but they also had to downsize their model given the restricted amount of land available.
Zito revealed the use of “green” building features, enabling a large portion of the new complex to be eco-friendly. The well-insulated walls, as well as the strategic placement of windows under the roof overhanging allow the rooms to stay cool without the need for air conditioning.
Built by Blach Construction, the Performing Arts Center includes music, chorus, and dressing rooms, and has handicapped access. There are three sound isolated practice rooms and the theater itself is equipped with laser cut panels, dampening curtains, and a control booth. The building contains an upper and lower lobby with an outdoor court that can be used for performances as well. The first performance will be by the M-A Jazz Band at the opening.
Seems very nice, too bad I couldn’t go today.
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Max Culhane Reply:
October 12th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
i think the pac turned out much nicer looking than i anticipated it to look. I personally feel honored it is at our school and not some other location in the city
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I think it’s great that MA has a new performing arts center and a better place for school events to be held, but….its pretty ugly. No offense to the architect, but it looks like a massive, 3D version of one of Picasso’s nightmares. Am I the only one?
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Its amazing that we finally have a preforming arts center!!! The opening last night was incredible. I, both watch from backsage, preformed on the stage and watch from the back of the theatre. Anyway you view the preformances they are amazing in this new building!!!
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I think it is nice, but the outside is to plain. I mean the gray concrete is not an eye appealing thing to me. Although I have not seen the inside I am sure it is amazing. It’s also a bummer how the cafeteria can only fit 400 people, when our school is about 2,000 people. I don’t really understand what is going on the with the little shrubs in the tan-bark, it doesn’t really do anything for the building, but oh well.
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Mao Mei and Sophia- I don’t think it’s down right ugly; in fact, knowing that I’ll be spending a LOT of time in their I tend to think it’s amazing in most features, though I really think that we should get a mural class to paint the outside and make it look really cool. Why not include all the arts? Overall, it’s not the outside, not even the inside that counts, but who’s performing and what is being performed. The drama department has some great shows coming up (*cough* The Rimers of Eldritch on November 12th, 13th, 14th, 19th, 20th, and 21st)
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I liked the article because it was very informative and well stated, but I want know more about the crashed spaceship. like why hasn’t this made headlines like Roswell? and how are people handling the fact that we aren’t alone in the universe? basically i want to know more about the way in which this structure is affecting the life around it. seriously, does anybody have any qualms with 32 million dollars being allocated for a performing arts center? could the money have been spent more wisely, if not then what is the justification for such an ‘extravagant’ project. what do you think?
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The building is really nice! I love the way it looks even though it doesn’t match the rest of the architecture at our school. Based on the outside, I thought the auditorium would be larger but it doesn’t seat that many people. The artwork displayed on the walls are nicely done and the acoustics are amazing! I can’t wait to go hear more performances!
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I went to both the PAC opening nights- Friday and Saturday. Not only were the preformances amazing (the Jazz band is really really good)but the entire building looks fabulous. When I heard the architects explain how much time, effort, money, and design went into this building, I knew that M-A is definently the ONLY public school lucky enough to have such a beautiful venue. The theatre is filled with rich colors, and every little detail looks perfect. We are so lucky that we have such a nice building on our otherwise not-too-modern campus. The cafeteria looks good, and it will be a great place to eat lunch when it rains. And the outside of the PAC is not only an eye-opener for passer bys (like jealous private school students)but I know I am proud to say that I go to M-A, especially when I look at the beautiful architectural details of the ‘crashed spaceship’ that makes this school look so much more appealing.
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Kelly, I did not say it was down right ugly. If you will notice I said it was “nice” hahahaha =P OH yes p.s. mr mcblair, this online news paper is very lovely.
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Mr. McClure-
Apparently the money for the building came from a grant of some kind, and M-A was not allowed to spend it on anything else.
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I agree with Allison that, given the size of the building, there should have been more seats in the auditorium. However, the inside is cool – I really like how there is a second floor lobby you can go up to – not many California public schools have second stories anywhere! The cafeteria will great in the winter, even if it won’t hold very many people.
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Mao Mei- my apologies, I was referring to Sofia’s ‘ugly’ and your ‘too plain’, which is why I suggested something to spice it up. I’ll make my notions more clear next time.
And I also really like this site- I hope that more people read the articles and comment so that there is more discussion.
Also, in response to Mr. McClure’s comment, elaborate or not, I’m very glad that we have a performing arts center like this. Last year the drama department was performing in C-16 where we had to squeeze in people if we wanted a house of 100. The year before that, the productions were held outside the F-wing and in the new gym where the players had to go through what we call ‘Hell week’ (the week before opening) rehearsing with the badmitton team also practicing. The drama department sighs in excitement and relief now that we have this new space, and I’m sure that people in band and choir are also incredibly excited to be able to perform on such a beautiful stage.
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Although the outside of the building is a bit plain, overall I think it is a nice buildling. I’m excited to see more performances in the near future.
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I think it looks very architectural and precise. I love the green features and the sound system, well done architects. The only thing I don’t understand is the cafeteria, it only fits around 200 people or something like that. Who is qualified to sit in the cafeteria? I wonder what they will workout to make it fair.
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Oh that is okay Kelly. No worries. =)
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I find the exterior of the PAC to be fairly pleasing to the eye. However I feel that several of the rooms (such as the cafeteria and the band room) were designed in such a way that functionality was sacrificed in an attempt to make them appear impressive and elegant.
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it looks nicer than what i expected it to
the inside looks great and makes up for the outside
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Very nice photos by Eric!! Fantastic exterior evening shots!
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Hi! Great post!
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