The Festus High School amphitheater will be transformed into a multipurpose room.
Festus R-6 Board of Education members voted unanimously March 18 to award a $369,007 contract to Brockmiller Construction of Farmington to complete the renovations. The company submitted the only bid for the project.
Superintendent Link Luttrell said the renovations are intended to make better use of 2,500-square-foot amphitheater.
“It’s a pretty tight area,” he said. “We want to renovate it to a multipurpose center that many, various groups can use, like the wrestling teams. They now have to go to the middle school to practice. The cheerleaders will be able to use it, as well as the Tigerettes and the flag corps.”
The tiered seating area in the current amphitheater will be redesigned, Luttrell said. “It will become a large, open area,” he said.
Kevin Pope, the district coordinator of communications and special projects, said the seating area will be eliminated by being “topped” with flooring.
“They will put a support structure in and put down a floor,” he said.
Luttrell said Brockmiller plans to begin work on the project shortly after the end of the current school year.
“They hope to start in June,” he said. “The contract calls for 80 work days. We’re shooting for it to open by Sept. 1. The first day of the new school year is Aug. 23.”
He said general operating funds will pay for the amphitheater renovation project.
Meanwhile, the performing arts center, which is under construction on the west side of Festus High School, remains more or less on schedule despite some weather delays during the winter, Luttrell reported.
“We had that cold stretch (with snow),” he said. “Then, rainy weather. It’s about all under roof. We’re still hoping to have it done by the end of October.”
The performing arts center will be a 30,000-square-foot building with a 750-seat auditorium next to the Festus High School annex, which houses the building’s new band room that opened in 2019.
The $12,377,660 construction contract for the performing arts center project was awarded to Brockmiller Construction in 2020. The performing arts center project will be covered with funds from Proposition F, a 59-cent tax increase voters approved in April 2019.
Luttrell said the overall budget for the performing arts center project, including contingencies, was set at $14 million.