Opening of Auditorium Crowns Hommocks Renovations

by Joan R. Simon

(November 19, 2003) The eagerly-anticipated opening of the sparkling new Hommocks Auditorium was celebrated at the School Board meeting Tuesday night, November 18.

“Middle Schools can be like middle children,” commented Principal Dr. Seth Weitzman, but fortunately that has not been the case at the Hommocks. A $17 million bond, passed in January 2000, has delivered a “state of the art” new 590-seat auditorium, 12 updated science labs, a refurbished library, 11 new classrooms, a redone planetarium, and 5 new computer labs. With the renovation of 40 classrooms, a standard 7-8 grade middle school has been transformed into “four cozy schools within a school,” Dr. Weitzman noted, and now accommodates grades 6 through 8 and 50 percent more students than before the renovation.

Board President Martin & Asst. Supt. Tate cut the ribbon at the official opening of the auditorium.

Dr. Sherry King noted that the goal had been to “not just add space but redesign an entire building for a new function.” She thanked all the many people who had worked for the completion of the Hommocks renovation and singled out Sarah Tate, Assistant Superintendent for Operations, who she called “the keeper of every piece of the vision.”

The road to completion was a long and bumpy one, with the initial planning starting in 1990 with the “Marks Committee” report which recommended a 6-7-8 grade middle school to incorporate anticipated growth in the elementary school population as well as an educational model more suitable to the age group. The community voted down two bond issues for redesigning the middle school (in 1995 and 1996), but finally supported a renovation bond in January 2000, which added, among other changes, plans for an auditorium.

Originally due to open in the fall of 2002, the auditorium was delayed more than a year because of problems with the original contractor. The current contractor, who came aboard in 2003, was racing to finish the job by this fall (See: Hommocks Auditorium: A Few Weeks From Completion.)

Ronda Lustman, former School Board President, remarked that “although as a parent, I was frustrated by the failure of the earlier bonds, I believe that the beautiful and functional addition we have today is the result of the focused vision of the educational needs of our middle school that has been realized in the final design.”

For the audience sitting in the auditorium, Tuesday night was the opening of a grand new facility, which Dr. Weitzman encouraged the community to use and enjoy; for the district it was the long-awaited culmination of 13 years of planning, designing and construction.

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