The city and

the school board also are sharing some development costs of the joint

sites, such as the newly begun clearing of the project site.

The school

system's Fine Arts Center project will take 16 to 18 months to complete,

and in the end will provide a performing arts center for all Coweta County

schools and the community. The 48,000-sq. ft. facility will include an

art gallery and meeting space, and a 999-seat performance auditorium with

accompanying lighting, acoustics, fly system, shop and dressing room space.

Southern A

& E is the architectural firm for the arts center. The basic design

for the center was taken from a similar arts center built recently by

the Bartow County School System.

For an overall

campus plan, the city has used the Classic Center in Athens as a model,

with a central pavilion connecting the fine arts center to the east and

the future city conference center to the west, using decorative enclosed

hallways. The arts center and future city projects will carry a common

architectural theme.

The center

is the last project funded by a special sales tax approved by Coweta voters

in 1997.