Mehlville High Auditorium Construction on Budget

"What's going up at Mehlville High School?"

Not everyone knows about the high school's new construction project, according to some of the district's Board of Education members. With underground work nearly complete on a new auditorium, President Venki Palamand said he's been asked quite a bit recently about the activity at the school.

Board Secretary Larry Felton even said someone thought it was a parking garage.

The new auditorium, which is scheduled to be completed in November 2013, was approved this January. The board is now looking into purchasing a sign letting passersby know more about the project.

So far, construction is within budget, Superintendent Eric Knost said.

The original construction plan came with a "wish list," items the district wanted to build as long as the footings and foundations—the most volatile and potentially expensive part of construction—went according to plan.

Earlier this month the school board approved adding a covered walkway and gypsum board on the walls of the auditorium at their previous meeting. 

The two projects would use only about half of the budget’s $300,000 contingency fund, Knost said.

“Since we haven’t had any reason to use any of the contingency, it makes perfect sense to add the corridor that connects to the main building” and the gypsum board, which will benefit the auditorium “aesthetically and acoustically,” Superintendent Eric Knost said. 

Are you excited about the new auditorium? How will it benefit your or your child's time at school? Write a letter to the community here or email Lindsay Toler at Lindsay.Toler@patch.com.

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• District Hires Architect for New Auditorium
• What Will Mehlville's New Auditorium Look Like?