With the next phase of the high school reconstruction coming up, the district board of trustees will make a critical decision on whether to renovate Stuver Auditorium, or to tear it down and build a new one.

The board discussed the matter at the Sept. 12 meeting. At the next board meeting on Oct. 17, a deciding vote on “phase three” of  the school’s rebuilding will be taken. There are currently four proposals of what could be done to the auditorium.

Proposal number one is split up into two parts, a major renovation, or a minor renovation. Both renovations would keep the auditorium in its current location. Theater arts teacher Jeff Winkler detailed some of the changes included in the minor renovation.

“The first proposal includes replacing seats, replacing carpet, making it ADA-accessible [Americans with Disabilities], and re-bricking the outside,” Winkler said.

Also included in the minor renovation is minor electrical replacement, flooring replacement, a stair addition, mechanical unit replacement, and safety upgrades. The estimated total for the minor renovation is $2 million.

The major renovation plans include demolishing and enlarging the lobby, adding a ticket booth, adding restrooms, adding support areas, renovating the interior of fine arts areas, replacing stage equipment, reworking and replacing seating and complete safety upgrades. Seating would be reduced from 1,492 to 1,250. The approximate cost is $7.5 million.

Winkler expressed bigger concerns other than just replacing seats and carpet.

“Everyone looks at the auditorium and says ‘Oh my goodness, the seats are horrible!’ Yes, but that’s a cosmetic problem,” Winkler said. “The real problem with that theater is the electrical and fire system in there.”

The second proposal includes tearing the whole thing down and building an 850 seat auditorium. In this proposal, the auditorium would be placed next to the new basketball arena. The approximate cost for proposal two is $6.5 to $7.5 million.

“[This] would be like what Hebron and Flower Mound have,” Winkler said.

Proposal three, which was proposed introduced at the last school board meeting, would be to build a larger 1,100 seat auditorium. According to the district website, seating configuration would be a combination of auditorium and stadium style seating. That proposal would cost an estimated $8.5 to $9 million.

“The plan would be to place it next to the basketball arena because it could share concessions and restrooms,” Winkler said.

As of June 1, 2012 the auditorium can no longer be used.

“Then they are going to take out all of the asbestos in the auditorium and [the old] part of the school,” Winkler said.

After they get all of the asbestos out, they will either start renovating, or tearing it down.

“It will probably take two to three months to get the abatement done, then on to the demolition,” Winkler said. “So next year, we probably won’t have an auditorium, period.”

No matter which proposal is picked, it will take approximately a year and a half to finish the project.

“For [next year] there is going to be a stage that is built down in the cafeteria area,” Principal Brad Burns said.

This means that there will be a small place for presentations and maybe theater arts 1 students to practice, but no place for bigger productions.

As for productions, Winkler plans on doing what he has done in the past.

“We [used to] have to go out and do theater shows in the public,” Winkler said. “I have done a theater show in the Denton Square courthouse.”

Burns said the administration will begin planning in January for how to work without an auditorium. But whatever the board decides, it won’t change things for the 2011-12 school year.

“We are still going to hold things in the auditorium [this year],” Burns said.

One theater student feels strongly about the future of the current auditorium.

“I think [the auditorium] should be torn down,” senior Garret Smith said. “We could [probably] have a new one for cheaper than it would cost to bring the current one up to fire code.”

Another theater student still has deep feelings for the auditorium.

“Taking away the auditorium from theater students is like taking away the field for athletes,” junior Brittnee Olsen said. “Creativity should be expressed, and without the auditorium, that is going to be difficult.”