Last month, the Franklin Special School District, which serves 3,200 pre-K to 8th-grade students in an area south of Nashville, held two ribbon-cutting ceremonies for a new gym and performance arts center that answer years-long needs.
![The stage and orchestra of the new Performing Arts Center](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Wold-HFR_PAC%20Interior.jpg)
Designed by Wold|HFR Design (which is based in Brentwood, Tenn.) and built by Nabholz Construction, the 34,400-sf Franklin Special School District Performing Arts Center is available to the district’s eight schools, as well as for other events held by the community. It seats 490 people surrounding a thrust stage that extends into the audience on three sides, with a 120-sf proscenium.
![The Legacy Gallery in the Performing Arts Center](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Wold-HFR_PAC%20Legacy%20Gallery.jpg)
The PAC includes dressing rooms, pre-performance spaces, prop rooms, a building workshop, concession stand, and ticket booth. The facility also features a 650-sf Legacy Gallery installation that celebrates the history of the school district, which dates back to 1906. In celebration of PAC’s opening, a stone-engraved logo was revealed on the building’s façade.
According to Nabholz, the PAC, which began construction in 2020, cost $16.2 million.
![The new gym for the Poplar Grove Elementary School](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Wold-%20HFR%20Poplar%20Grove%20Court.jpg)
The same design-build team was involved in the 22,800-sf, $9.2 million gymnasium for the Poplar Grove Elementary School in Franklin, which previously had been sharing a gym with the Poplar Grove Middle School. The new facility, which seats 480, includes a full-size basketball court, two cross-court practice courts, a volleyball court, and four-square courts. The new gym also houses a concession stand, multiple locker rooms, teacher offices, and a multipurpose room that doubles as a storm shelter.
“We’re proud to celebrate another successful project with Franklin Special School District and look forward to seeing the positive impact of these new facilities on students, educators and the community,” said Stephen Griffin, AIA, Principal at Wold|HFR Design. “As a national firm with a 100-plus-year legacy in Middle Tennessee, we’re particularly proud of the projects we design in the communities where we live and work, and it’s one of the many reasons we’re delighted to be part of these projects and celebrations.”
![Interior of Poplar Grove Elementary School's new gym](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Wold-HFR_Poplar%20Grove%20Gym%20Interior.jpg)
Related Stories
Coronavirus | Jan 20, 2022
Advances and challenges in improving indoor air quality in commercial buildings
Michael Dreidger, CEO of IAQ tech startup Airsset speaks with BD+C's John Caulfield about how building owners and property managers can improve their buildings' air quality.
K-12 Schools | Jan 4, 2022
Forest Edge Elementary School becomes the largest net zero verified education project in the U.S.
Bray Architects designed the project.
K-12 Schools | Dec 27, 2021
A ‘new urbanist’ middle school takes shape in Austin
Design-build delivery, still rare for Texas school construction, fit expeditiously for this project.
K-12 Schools | Dec 10, 2021
Trends in K-12 school design, with Dan Boggio and Melissa Turnbaugh of PBK
Dan Boggio and Melissa Turnbaugh of PBK, the largest K-12 design firm in the U.S., discuss the favorable market conditions and the latest trends in K-12 school design with BD+C's Rob Cassidy.
Giants 400 | Nov 18, 2021
2021 K-12 School Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. K-12 school facilities sector
PBK, Gilbane, AECOM, and DLR Group head BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest K-12 school facilities sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
K-12 Schools | Nov 16, 2021
Massachusetts’ first net-positive energy public school opens
Part of the town of Westborough’s goal to be carbon-neutral by 2035.
K-12 Schools | Nov 14, 2021
New Blackwater Community School completed for Gila River Indian Community, in Arizona
Construction on the new Blackwater Community School, a two-story structure on the Gila River Indian Community, located southeast of Phoenix, Arizona, was completed on August 31, 2021.
K-12 Schools | Nov 10, 2021
K-12 school design innovation: 'Learning Everywhere' and the mobile classroom
Last September, AIA San Francisco awarded the Professional Category in its 2021 Future Classroom Competition to a five-person team from Culver City, Calif.-based Berliner Architects. The firm was selected for its “Learning Everywhere” idea that features a mobile strategy for education at school, home, on field trips, and in transit. BD+C's John Caulfield discuss that concept with Richard Berliner, AIA, Principal, Berliner Architects.
Cladding and Facade Systems | Oct 26, 2021
14 projects recognized by DOE for high-performance building envelope design
The inaugural class of DOE’s Better Buildings Building Envelope Campaign includes a medical office building that uses hybrid vacuum-insulated glass and a net-zero concrete-and-timber community center.
School Construction | Sep 30, 2021
Renovation of Candeo North Scottsdale completes
SPS+ Architects designed the project, which was built by Adolfson & Peterson.