Submitted by Deirdre Purdy
Let’s start with the good news about the Calhoun Middle/High School auditorium repair and upgrade.
The new LED stage lighting equipment is all paid for, including installation. Our vendor, Knight Sound & Lighting (goKnight.com) will install it in late October or early November.
The new LED house lighting equipment and installation are half paid for and will be installed at the same time as the stage lighting.
Almost all the new sound system is paid for except for new speakers and monitors that were only recently added. The old speakers that hang in front of the stage block the spotlights at the back of the auditorium. They will be taken down and new speakers will be hung on the wall on each side of the stage.
The Sound & Light Project, with substantial help from our Board of Education and the entire community, has spent $145,314 so far. We have $71,140 in the bank.
That’s enough to pay for the other half of the new LED house lighting equipment and for the added-on sound equipment, and almost enough for the projected electrical contractor costs. We haven’t gotten that estimate yet, but we’ve been warned it will be $40,000 to $50,000.
That’s a lot of money for our small county. So, what’s the problem?
The bad news is that the estimate for installation of the modern sound system was $22,000. That was for Knight to do all the installation.
We have cut that estimate by about 2/3 by arranging to have the non-technical pre-installation done by a school maintenance crew led by Richard Parsons.
They will pull cable, hang speakers, and do other such mechanical preparation for the sound system installation.
That leaves us short somewhere between approximately $10,000 and $15,000..
We have applied for more grants – though they take time and we will need to pay these bills this fall.
So Sound & Light is asking for help. If you gave a little before, could you give a little more? If you always meant to donate, could you donate now? If you have any ideas of people or places who might help, let us know.
You can donate to Sound & Light using the GoFundMe button on our Facebook page – The Sound & Light Project. Checks may be sent to Treasurer Chip Westfall, 138 Lost Rd., Grantsville, WV 26417.
Fundraising ideas are welcome at the same places.
Please help. We are so close to getting this done for the Christmas Concert!
