Burbank Auditorium set for $21 million upgrades

Santa Rosa Junior College is moving forward with plans to overhaul its aging performing arts facility, the first major construction project the school intends to complete with funds from a $410 million bond measure voters approved two years ago.

The college’s board of trustees this month approved a $1.9 million architectural contract for modernizing the 77-year-old Burbank Auditorium, a space long home to stage productions from the college theater program, the Summer Repertory Theatre Festival and other events. With construction costs estimated at $21 million, the auditorium project includes installing raked or upward-sloped seating from the main stage, building a new 200-seat multipurpose space, expanding the lobby, adding a wide terrace among other improvements.

Work on the auditorium should break ground in the spring or summer of next year, and construction should be completed in late 2018. The project is backed by funds from Measure H, the 2014 bond measure voters approved to finance a range of improvements to the college at both its Santa Rosa and Petaluma campuses.

Trustees earlier this year chose an architectural team, Santa Rosa-based Quattrocchi Kwok Architects and San Francisco-based Gensler, to work on a master plan for facilities upgrades that will be paid through the bond measure. While that plan has yet to be completed, Leigh Sata, the college’s director of capital projects, said a steering committee and college officials felt the Burbank Auditorium renovations could move forward.

The auditorium is beloved by community members who see performances there, Sata said, but had a clear need for upgrades.

Getting the project started sooner means construction should be done in time to help mark the college’s 100th anniversary in two years, he said.

“We thought that would be a significant milestone and something to celebrate,” Sata said.

Santa Rosa-based TLCD Architecture and San Francisco-based Mark Cavagnero Associates received the architecture contract for the auditorium work.

TLCD principal Alan Butler envisioned transforming the auditorium into a “really functional theatrical facility,” citing a “considerable number of problems” with the current space, including a poor sight line for the main stage.

That’s why Leslie McCauley, chairwoman of the college theatre arts department, called raked seating one of the project’s most exciting aspects, since it will involve positioning the theater seats on a slant.?“Currently, the audience is pretty much on a flat plane,” McCauley said, “so sight lines are not good. If you sit behind someone who is (6 feet 4 inches tall), it’s really hard to see the stage.”

The theatre arts department is involved with the auditorium year-round through college production shows and its Summer Repertory Theatre sister program. McCauley said the department should be able to handle losing some 200 theater seats; it’s currently a 600-seat house, but renovations will trim it to about 400.

McCauley was also excited about the addition of the multipurpose space, which she said could be used for classes and more intimate theatrical performances than those produced on the main stage. Other project improvements she highlighted included a “really lovely, wide terrace,” more women’s bathroom stalls and acoustic upgrades.

The building will be closed while construction work is underway, according to Sata. McCauley said certain shows could be relocated to other local venues, but some would remain on campus in another location.

Sata said the state will need to approve architectural drawings for the auditorium, after which the college can solicit bids for construction work, likely next spring.

You can reach Staff Writer J.D. Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @thejdmorris.