High school auditorium gets a massive makeover

Fifty years ago, the Cloquet High School auditorium plans included an acoustical shell. Since then, 50 years' worth of band and choir performances have been less than they could have been, as the sound of their instruments and voices also carried upward, to be absorbed by the curtains and drapery above.

Not anymore.

With the nearly $1.7 million renovation project very close to completion, three portions of an acoustical shell ceiling now hang from the rigging over the stage. When needed, the massive curved hard white shells can be tilted and linked together to arch over 13 portable towers, which will make up the walls of what would become a temporary bandshell on the auditorium stage.

"All the sound will be projected out into the audience," explained John Justad, who has acted as the school district's representative for the massive renovation project. "It's a major improvement. The theater was designed to have those, but they were never purchased. So really, we're just completing the theater."

He then pointed out to the auditorium itself, toward the brick walls along each side, which are each decorated with 20 giant panels, an eye-catching addition to the auditorium. More importantly, the panels will serve to diffuse sound that used to bounce off the hard brick surface, creating echoes. At the back of the auditorium are other new panels - which look more like tan and gray walls - which will absorb the sound when it reaches them.

Those are just a few of the many changes in the 50-year-old auditorium, improvements paid for by money left over from the 2016 referendum that paid for a new middle school, swimming pool and renovations to other schools in the district.

District manager Candace Nelis explained that the extra funds came mostly from $1.5 million-plus included in the original budget to demolish the old middle school. However, the nearly 100-year-old building is currently being renovated into apartments, so that money could be diverted into the auditorium with school board approval.

The renovated theater has top-quality seats, more handicapped-accessible places, excellent acoustics, new lighting and sound systems, new rigging and "great finishes," according to Justad. It will also have a removable stage extension, which will extend the stage 7 feet and 9 inches out into the auditorium and contain locations where actors can "pop out" of the stage.

"This is going to be one of the most technologically sophisticated auditoriums between Winnipeg and the Twin Cities," Justad said, with sheer happiness. "Not the biggest, but in terms of what we have and what we're able to do. It's got some amazing stuff in here. The district got a lot for their money, mainly because they did not have to build an auditorium, so they could basically spend their money improving on what they had.

"So they're going to have a lot more auditorium, in terms of technical and production possibilities, than they would have had if they'd gotten the $8 million (for a new auditorium) approved by voters. They just won't have as many seats (as they would have had with a new building)."

Justad has been there all along, first working with teachers and directors and other school district staff to identify and meet project needs, then working with construction manager Kraus-Anderson and construction firms to make it happen. To save the district money, the Cloquet resident volunteered to tear down the old rigging, something he has done for a job at his 20/20 Theatrical company, which specializes in theater design and equipment installation. District maintenance staff did a great job tearing out the old seats, he said. That work - rigging and seats - probably saved the district about $30,000, he said.

His advocacy, and experience, was also a bonus.

"I've been in contact with sound people, acoustical folks, structural engineers, architects, suppliers ... I really drew on most of my contacts that I've developed over my career to bring to bear on that project. If I didn't know the answer, I knew who I could call," he said, pointing to the spot where a redesigned light pipe will go, something he pushed for and which led to a better and cheaper design for the district.

"All humility aside, the project has really benefited from that (oversight)," he said. "I can look all over this project and see things that I had a direct influence on that I know we did better than if it had been left to chance. I'm pretty happy with that."

Justad explained that musical theater - Cloquet is known for its massive fall musicals - will benefit greatly from the new sound system. Additionally, the theater will now have three choices for providing music for shows: recorded music (which they did for "Hunchback" last fall), a director and orchestra in front of the stage (traditional route), or the orchestra/director in the band room. He explained that several rows of seats can be removed to make room for an orchestra or group of musicians in the auditorium, but said moving them back to the band room can help with volume control too, because they've had issues in the past where the music would be louder than the student singers.

"We designed a new system so you can put a live orchestra back in the band room," he said, noting that the NorShor Theatre in Duluth has a similar setup. "They would have a television monitor in back where they can watch the performance - we'll have a TV camera in the front of the balcony filming the stage - and we'll also have a television camera in the bandroom, focused on the conductor, and the kids can look out at another big television on the front of the balcony and watch the conductor on the big screen, just like they would if he was in the pit."

The school lost some seating capacity in the renovation project, the result of both bigger seats and wider aisles, which now have handrails running down the middle and along the walls to improve safety.

In an interview Tuesday, Justad said he expected much of the work to be finished by the time the Pine Knot News hit the newsstands. He was hoping the cast and crew of the spring show would be able to start rehearsing and building the set sometime next week.

And then he can get started on his next gig - the CHS production of "Clue."

"I'll be in here, doing lights," he said.No hard hat needed.