UNDERWOOD, Iowa — For years, the Underwood High School band has performed in the gymnasium, without acoustics designed for the sounds of trombones, saxophones and trumpets.
The school district plans to provide a new home for the band and the rest of the fine arts programs: a new auditorium.
"This means a lot to the high school," Underwood High School Principal Matt McDonough said. "We have great fine arts programs and good support. But like many smaller schools we don't have a place for them to perform. Just the gym."
Dave Clark, grade 6 through 12 instrumental music director, said practicing in the band room without knowledge of how the notes sound in an auditorium is a disadvantage. "Right now, it's like practicing basketball on a half court, then playing games on a full court," he said.
A 400-seat auditorium will be part of a $5.6 million addition to the high school, which also will include new wrestling and fitness rooms and an auxiliary gym.
With the planning phase nearly complete, McDonough said, he expects bid letting to occur in May or June, with construction beginning in the summer.
The work is projected to take about 18 months, so the new facility should be ready during the 2013-2014 school year.
The current wrestling room doubles as the school exercise room, which can create tight conditions because weights and machines have to be moved to accommodate both uses.
"There's definitely been a need for a (separate) weights-fitness room and wrestling room," McDonough said. "During the wrestling season it's cramped."
Early plans call for the exercise area to be accessible by the public, during off hours at the school.
"I hope that works out," McDonough said. "We're always trying to enhance that (school-community) relationship."
The need for new athletic rooms was the impetus for the addition; an outside consulting firm suggested that the school include other projects. With construction firms' workloads reduced by a down economy, McDonough said, "We thought it'd be better to do them all at one time, to get a better deal with construction."
The addition cost will be covered primarily by local option sales tax proceeds, the principal said, along with donations and grants.
The new auditorium received a boost with a $2,500 donation on behalf of local farmer Patrick Ellsworth. The money came from a Monsanto America's Farmers Grow Communities program, which allows winning farmers to designate a nonprofit organization for the award.
"It's free money for a nonprofit, I figured 'why not?'" Ellsworth said. "All I had to do was put my name in."
The 54-year-old farms about 400 acres outside Underwood. He and wife Terri have a ninth-grader at the high school, Ashley.
The money from Monsanto and Ellsworth was among a string of recent donations to fine arts at the school, McDonough said, including $5,000 from an anonymous donor.
"It's definitely a group effort," he said. "People want to see this happen."
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