When Sandy Creek High School

was built, it was built without an auditorium.

No one is quite sure why. It

befuddles the fine arts faculty and students, which puts on shows on a

stage in the cafeteria, and it befuddles school board chairman Mickey

Littlefield.

"I don't know why they

didn't build an auditorium when they built the school 12 years ago, but

we really want this for you," Littlefield said to the parents behind

the Patriot Hall Auditorium project at Monday's school board meeting.

"Other parents would be out marching, but you are trying to raise

the money yourselves and should be commended."

There was a special purpose

local option sales tax vote a few years back that would have provided

funds to build the school an auditorium but it failed. A bond issue passed

but was used to build new schools and perform maintenance on older schools.

Now, parents, school administrators, fine arts faculty and staff have

united to get the auditorium they feel they need and deserve.

The venue, which will tentatively

be called Patriot Hall Auditorium, will serve Sandy Creek High School,

Flat Rock Middle School, Robert J. Burch Elementary School, Tyrone Elementary

School and North Fayette Elementary School. It will seat between 500 and

700 people, have state-of-the-art lighting and sound, dressing rooms,

rest rooms, a storage area and an orchestra pit and will be used for concerts,

dramtic productions, award ceremonies, assemblies, guest speakers, standardized

tests and community events. The cost of Patriot Hall Auditorium will be

$2.6 million.

The group that is trying to

get Patriot Hall built has already raised $8,000 and is currently seeking

donations of funds and services from corporations and businesses. There

are also different levels of sponsorship so that everybody can contribute

to the cause. There are different levels of donations from $25-$1,000

and each donor will be recognized on a commemorative wall inside the auditorium.

The group is also seeking volunteers

to assist them. If you are interested in volunteering, phone 770-474-1948

and 770-632-8783. For more information on the Patriot Hall Auditorium

project, visit www.patriothall.org .

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