PORT ANGELES — In its first year, the Friends of the Port Angeles Performing Arts Center brightened and heightened performances at the auditorium with new lighting and sound systems.
Now, it has added a shiny sign identifying the venue for visitors.
The sign represents the completion of at least $9,532 in improvements by the fledgling arts organization, which began its first project last March.
“We are $20,000 to $30,000 from completing our priority projects,” said Jeff Bohman, a member of the organization, which also includes Garry Cameron, Jolene Dalton Gailey, Doug Gailey, Bob Lumens, Karen Hanan, Chuck Whitney and Dan Maguire.
The 1,150-seat auditorium at Port Angeles High School, 304 E. Park Ave., was built in 1958 and remodeled in 1978.
Improvements have been needed to make the auditorium more functional for major acts, as well as for school and community groups, Bohman said.
In addition to the auditorium’s use by students for concerts, plays and other school events, it also hosts performances by the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra, PALOA Musical Theater, Olympic Barbershop, Peninsula Men’s Gospel Singers, Arts Northwest, Ballet Workshop and others.
It has hosted major acts like Arlo Guthrie in 2012, and in 2011, the radio show “eTown,” which brought in California indie-rock band Cake to perform during the Elwha Dam removal ceremonies.
The internationally known men’s choir, Ladysmith Black Mambazo will perform at the auditorium tonight.
So far, completed projects by the Friends are:
— Installation of stage apron lighting.
— Relocation and replacement of light and sound control panel.
— A movable floor divider for smaller events.
— Improved signage.
Two projects are still under way.
A permanent donor recognition display is expected to be installed in the foyer by June.
So far, there have been 30 major donors for the project, Bohman said.
Also, a set of blocks on the wall of the auditorium that once depicted the Olympic Mountain skyline is being replaced, he said.
Materials for the sign were donated as a class gift by the Port Angeles High School Class of 2012.
The sign was constructed by high school machine technology students, supervised by instructor Mike Frick, with support from Angeles Machine Works, Richerts Marble and Granite, Lincoln Industrial, Port Angeles School District Maintenance Department, and FKC Co., Bohman said.
The next major project will be to install a digital LED lighting system, in which each light can be controlled separately.
The house lights also will be rewired so that the front and back of the auditorium can be separately controlled, he said.
Bohman said that two major construction projects planned for the venue — an outdoor amphitheater and modernization of the lobby and restrooms — have been put on hold pending a Port Angeles School District plan to replace the high school.
Earlier plans for a new school building centered around keeping the existing auditorium.
Two members of the Friends of the Performing Arts Center, Ron Jones, fine arts chairman and director of the Port Angeles High School orchestras, and Nolan Duce, school district maintenance director, are on the school district’s Long-Term Facilities Task Force, which is considering future school construction.
For more information or to arrange for a donation, people can contact Bohman at 360-477-8881 or Lumens at 360-460-6830.
Donations also can be dropped off at Port Angeles High School in care of Principal Garry Cameron.
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.w
