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.
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 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 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.”
Related Stories
| Jan 9, 2014
Special report: Can design prevent another Sandy Hook?
Our experts say no, but it could save lives. In this report, they offer recommendations on security design you can bring to your K-12 clients to prevent, or at least mitigate, a Sandy Hook on their turf.
Smart Buildings | Jan 7, 2014
9 mega redevelopments poised to transform the urban landscape
Slowed by the recession—and often by protracted negotiations—some big redevelopment plans are now moving ahead. Here’s a sampling of nine major mixed-use projects throughout the country.
| Jan 6, 2014
What is value engineering?
If you had to define value engineering in a single word, you might boil it down to "efficiency." That would be one word, but it wouldn’t be accurate.
| Dec 17, 2013
Nation's largest net-zero K-12 school among winners of 2013 Best of Green Schools award
The Lady Bird Johnson Middle School in Irving, Texas, was named a winner of USGBC's annual award, along with nine other schools, individuals and communities working toward the common goal of healthy, high-performing learning places.
| Dec 17, 2013
IBM's five tech-driven innovation predictions for the next five years [infographics]
Smart classrooms, DNA-based medical care, and wired cities are among the technology-related innovations identified by IBM researchers for the company's 5 in 5 report.
| Dec 16, 2013
Irving, Texas building state’s second net-zero school
Lee Elementary School, scheduled to open in fall 2014, will be net-zero-ready, and if the school board decides to sell district bonds and allow the purchase of additional solar panels, will be a true net-zero facility.
| Dec 13, 2013
Safe and sound: 10 solutions for fire and life safety
From a dual fire-CO detector to an aspiration-sensing fire alarm, BD+C editors present a roundup of new fire and life safety products and technologies.
| Dec 10, 2013
16 great solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
From a crowd-funded smart shovel to a why-didn’t-someone-do-this-sooner scheme for managing traffic in public restrooms, these ideas are noteworthy for creative problem-solving. Here are some of the most intriguing innovations the BD+C community has brought to our attention this year.
| Dec 5, 2013
Exclusive BD+C survey shows reaction to Sandy Hook tragedy
More than 60% of AEC professionals surveyed by BD+C said their firms experienced heightened interest in security measures from school districts they worked with.
| Nov 27, 2013
Wonder walls: 13 choices for the building envelope
BD+C editors present a roundup of the latest technologies and applications in exterior wall systems, from a tapered metal wall installation in Oklahoma to a textured precast concrete solution in North Carolina.
