Inter-Lakes Community Auditorium gets new seating

By BROOKE ROBINSON, for THE LACONIA DAILY SUN

MEREDITH — The Inter-lakes Community Auditorium is getting a long-awaited seating facelift, thanks to a renovation project that began on Monday. The project is budgeted to cost $550,000 between the school district maintenance trust fund and the balance of the school district's account from unallocated funds. Construction is planned to be completed around Thanksgiving.

The current seating, installed when the auditorium at the high school was built in 1989, was meant to be versatile and retractable so the space can be used for multiple purposes.

"They're really stadium seats; there's no cushion in them, it's a piece of cardboard with fabric over it," said auditorium manager Jason Cornelissen. "It's just the nature of that type of system that was purchased 26 years ago that is designed to be a versatile seating. We're looking for comfort at this point. People want to come to a show and be comfortable."

Assistant Superintendent Trish Temperino said, "It will certainly make the space more welcoming, inviting and comfortable. They've certainly given the district a lot of faithful years of use but they were no longer comfortable."

Although the seating is the primary focus of this project, other changes will be made to the auditorium to make it more accessible, as well as bring it up to code by installing railings going up the aisles. Facilities Director Chris Wald said, "The entrance will be revised. The're going to do some (Americans with Disabilities Act) improvements to our sidewalks so folks can enter with a wheelchair. The doors themselves are going to be replaced with aluminum storefronts."

One of the other bigger changes coming to the auditorium is the addition of a cross aisle. "In most auditoriums there's two ways to enter: you can enter from the bottom and walk up or you can enter from underneath the seats and walk up through the stadium and that will enter onto a cross aisle," Wald said. This traffic flow can be distracting if people need to leave the auditorium during a performance.

This project encompasses the most pressing renovations needed for the auditorium. However, school officials hope to make added improvements in the not-too-distant future.

"I was trying to sell some other things that we could incorporate into the project to make it all one package," said Cornelissen, "but the price tag just kept going up and up, and out of respect to the taxpayers we decided that we didn't want to do that all at once."

Some of these ideas were the construction of dressing rooms off of the theater, upgrading lighting systems and increasing storage space.

Though there is more work to be done in the future, the current plan is a source of excitement for the revitalization of a critical auditorium.

"It's a big part of what the Lakes Region is. The arts are really alive," Wald said, explaining the impact these renovations will have for the community auditorium.

"Because we have a summer theater in there during the summertime, the new seats and layout will be much better for the folks who like to use the summer theater as well as for our students during the school year," said Temperino.

"We're excited about it," said Cornelissen. "It's definitely going to add a whole new look to the actual facility because they're going to be much bigger seats and a little more stylish. Any of those people who in the past have been to a show and haven't had the greatest experiences as far as sitting in the seat we're hoping that this is going to entice them to come back and enjoy a show in a comfortable seat."

The auditorium is scheduled to be up and running for the school district's winter concerts come December.

These are the seats that have been torn out of the Inter-Lakes Community Auditorium as of Monday. They will be replaced with larger, more comfortable seats. (Brooke Robinson/for The Laconia Daily Sun)

After the first day of demolition, all that that was left were the platforms that the seats were on. These platforms were retractable in order to make the space more versatile, but this was determined to be unnecessary, so these platforms are being torn out and the stadium seating in the auditorium will stay in place instead of being moveable. (Brooke Robinson/for The Laconia Daily Sun)