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Sandy Creek High School students finally have a place to play. Instruments, that is. And sing and act, too.

Fourteen years after the Tyrone school first opened, the campus is now complete with the opening of a state-of-the-art auditorium.

The $2.8 million, 600-seat facility, christened Patriot Hall by the community in honor of the school's mascot, was formally dedicated in ceremonies Nov. 9. The marathon program featured performances by the school's drama troupe, the Select Chorus and both the concert and symphonic bands.

Superintendent John DeCotis, his top deputies and the entire Fayette County Board of Education were in attendance at the event, along with State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox and state Rep. Virgil Fludd.

Cox, who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1998 to 2002, taught social studies at Sandy Creek for several years, where students impressed by her enthusiasm for politics encouraged her to run for public office. A resident of Peachtree City, she was elected state school chief in 2002.

Fludd, whose District 66 covers much of the Sandy Creek attendance zone, has said he moved to Tyrone and Fayette County specifically so his children could attend the school.

Sandy Creek's football stadium, known as "The Battlefield," was ready when the school opened. And at the time, the Patriots' gym was the largest in the county.

But the school's arts groups had to perform in the cafeteria on a makeshit stage that limited what they could do, fine arts teachers say.

Lighting and sound were less than ideal, and during the school day the stage had to be removed to make way for lunch tables.

County officials say an auditorium was part of the original plans for Sandy Creek, built in 1991. But cost overruns forced the school board at the time to cut the performance space out, though they pledged to build it later when funds became available.

Community leaders in the Tyrone area worked for several years to raise private funds for the building, which was not part of the 2000 bond referendum that paid for Whitewater High School.

But lower-than-expected construction costs associated with Whitewater, along with a return on good investments, left a windfall of funds.

At DeCotis' urging, the school board last year agreed to earmark nearly $12 million to complete Sandy Creek, as well as finish out an auditorium at Whitewater HIgh that is identical.

They also voted to fund the new gym at McIntosh High, which is scheduled for a December completion date. Once the old gym is vacated, it will be gutted and rebuilt as a fine arts theater for McIntosh.

Whitewater High's formal dedication ceremony is set for Sunday, Dec. 5, board members were told Monday night.