The Red Rock Center for the Performing Arts is in the last stages of construction and still scheduled to open in January.
Project Manager Dave Young said the first performance at the 23,300 square-foot facility has not been determined. He said there will be a few performances in March, and prior to those, the district will have a grand opening.
Construction crews for the $12 million project are waiting for 750 seats to be delivered, and Young said the scheduled arrival date is Thursday, Sept. 16. It will take three to four days to install them.
A Tempe company was hired to be the contractor for the project, and Orcutt Winslow is the architect.
The sound system has already been installed, and the center will have a 23-foot wide screen that is 13-feet high.
The total cost of the most recent construction at the school is $14.5 million, including three classrooms and a new gymnasium costing about $2.5 million. The classrooms and gymnasium opened at the beginning of the school year.
The funds for the project came from a school bond voters passed a few years ago.
On Aug. 31 work was being done on the stage, so the lights could be lifted.
“Everything will be wrapped up by the end of September,” Young said.
Finishing touches in small areas still have to be completed during the next few months, and the lights and sounds will be checked to ensure they are working, he said.
The concession stand, Young said, still needs appliances and equipment for the center to be fully operational.
“We do not know how [the concession stand] will operate yet,” he said. He also said there will be a location in the center for art shows, and it will be able to be enclosed.
Construction work on the center started in October 2008.
With construction almost done, the district now is trying to arrange performances for the center, and it wants to have a calendar of events for one year.
The district is still looking for a person to run and operate the center. Young said interviews were conducted two weeks ago, and he thinks someone will be hired within two to three months.
The hired contractor is currently going through its own punch list, and will be coming back to the district to get its opinions, Young said.
He said it was hard to envision 14 months ago what the center would look like when only the plans and concept were in place.
“It exceeded all expectations,” he said.
