ARTS CENTER GETS ITS BIG REVEAL
$28M renovation to Booker High facility includes interior updates, black-box theater
Booker High School faculty, Sarasota School Board members and district leadership unveiled a finished multi-million dollar renovation to the school’s Visual and Performing Arts building at a ceremony Thursday morning.
The building renovation – which overhauled the front entrance, updated the interior and added an additional black-box theater – cost $28 million, according to district construction leaders. In the district’s 202223 budget, the building was estimated to cost $24 million.
The primary theater, which seats 406 people, saw upgrades to the space’s audio and visual integration and balcony seating. A new black-box theater space, which seats 125 people, was also added to provide an alternative, more intimate space for performances.
District Superintendent Terry Conner spoke to an audience of more than 100 about how the renovated VPA center was symbolic of the district itself.
“We do not want to do anything substandard. We want to be the premier education provider in Sarasota County Schools, and this right here exemplifies ‘premier.’ We should be proud of this,” Connor said.
The school board chairwoman Karen Rose also shared her thoughts, summarizing
“We want to be the premier education provider in Sarasota County Schools, and this right here exemplifies ‘premier.’
” Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Terry Conner
the VPA represented “boundless potential.” At the reception, the school’s principal Rachel Shelley shared a part of the school’s history in her opening remarks.
“Did you know that Emma E. Booker when she started 114 years ago was an educator? But did you know she was also a musician,” Shelley said, pointing to the mural of Booker in the front foyer. “That’s right. She taught piano classes to the students here at Booker High School.”