Alter’s $4.3M performing arts center moves forward

Construction on the center could begin within three months.

Construction on a $4.3 million performing arts center at Alter High School is expected to begin this year.

The arts wing will be the final touch on a 10-year project that included renovations to the school’s science labs, athletic fields and improvements to the building’s infrastructure, as a way to help the school be a “competitive academic institution in the future,” Rick Willits, director of advancement at Alter, said

“We’ve had some really neat alums that have done some really cool things in the arts,” said Willits. “It was just time to build a facility that matched the excellence that was taking place here currently at the school and with our alums.”

The school has reached 80 percent of its fund-raising goal for the project. The new wing will be named the Christine Connor and Fred J. Miller Conservatory of the Arts, according to school plans.

The project, which includes an extension to the west side of the school at 940. E. David Rd. will include a theater, multi-purpose suites, a large art gallery on both floors for art work display and a box office for ticket sales, according to project director David Wineberg.

Construction drawings are under development and will be completed and submitted to Kettering building department by the end of the month, Wineberg said. If everything goes according to plan, construction on the building could begin in three months, with completion expected by the beginning of the second semester of the 2017-2018 school year.

“You could usually anticipate somewhere around nine months for construction,” said Wineberg. “I would think we’re looking at completion hopefully within a year.”

Alter has had several successful alumni come through the performing arts program, including film director Steve Martino and Howard Watkins, who spent time as a part of the Philharmonic Orchestra.

Martino has eight credits as a director, including “The Peanuts Movie,” “Horton Hears a Who” and “Ice Age: Continental Drift.”

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