Thousands of Westporters thrilled to last month’s Staples Players production of “Les Misérables.”
And they did it in an auditorium that is essentially unchanged from the time current director David Roth was a student in Players.
He graduated in 1984.
Several Players officers spoke eloquently at last night’s Board of Finance meeting about the need for renovations. (Last year’s production of “Elf” was almost canceled, after a problem with rigging.) Griffin Delmhorst — Jean Valjean in “Les Mis” — delivered Roth’s comments, as the director could not attend.
With a large number of Players and parents in attendance, the BOF voted to spend $3,037,790 on rigging, lighting and sound improvements. The renovations will make the sound ADA-compliant too, with headsets for audience members who request them.
The most recent renovation to the Staples auditorium was over 30 years ago.
The Finance Board also heard a request to create 1 or 2 “team rooms,” in a section of the existing girls locker room. Coaches and athletes made strong comments about the need for those rooms — and for upgrading the girls locker room used for physical education classes too.
Board members expressed mixed views about the current disparities between boys and girls locker rooms. There is currently also a separate team room for the boys football and lacrosse squads, but none for girls sports.
In addition, the boys locker rooms were upgraded over 2 decades ago. The girls facilities were not.
The girls locker room at Staples …
Members Danielle Dobin and Jeff Hammer voiced strong comments about the differences.
A motion in favor of spending $30,000 — for design costs for team rooms only — passed.
… and the boys showers. (Photos/Siobhan Jebb)
The Board of Finance also approved several other expenses:
- $25,000 for wireless access points on the Staples athletic fields.
- $25,000 in soft costs to explore a concession stand with bathrooms at Staples’ Paul Lane Field.
- $32,000 in soft costs to consider upgrading science laboratories at Bedford Middle School.
- $70,000 in soft costs for roof replacement at Greens Farms Elementary School.
- $181,500 in hard costs to replace a motorized partition in the Saugatuck Elementary School gymnasium.
- $172,970 for painting exterior facades of Westport schools.
- $220,000 in soft costs to explore upgrading the Longshore water supply system.
- $440,000 for the analysis, design, permitting and preparation of sidewalks on Easton Road, near Coleytown Elementary and Middle Schools. The state of Connecticut will pay the full cost of construction.
The Board of Finance did not vote on a request of $124,000 to replace the Levitt Pavilion stage. There was debate over who is responsible for covering that cost.
Earlier in the Finance meeting, Dobin and Liz Heyer were elected chair and vice chair. The votes were unanimous.
Finally going in the right direction!!! Locker rooms, bathrooms, concessions. Lets go westport. We have one high school. Lets make it appropriate.
There was a question / comment at another meeting. Do kids use the showers? How is that info trackable or accurate if the conditions were so substandard for the showers and conditions in the locker rooms.
Also from a legal standpoint, how does and did Title IX laws effect standards for the sport supports like equipment, locker rooms, uniforms. My mother fought for us to have access to sports in the late 70’s and early 80’s I was quite shocked that the girls had such a ______ locker room. Parenrs should be screaming from the mountain tops.
Congrats to Danielle and Liz! A great leadership team.
The disparity between the pictures of the boy’s and girl’s locker rooms is egregious. I’m always surprised by how reactive the district is in addressing these types of issues. It shouldn’t require an army of angry parents demanding equity for the administration to recognize this as unacceptable. How is this not already included in the proactive capital project plan? The request brought to the BoF for approval last night does not even address this. Thank you for sharing these photos with the community. Hopefully people will make some noise.
Am I correct that the auditorium dates back to the original North Avenue Staples when the campus was housed in separate buildings?
Correct. It was “integrated” into the building when the new Staples was constructed in 2003-05, but the interior was not touched.
The last renovation was about 30 years ago. It was necessitated when 2 students fell through the ceiling (separate instances), while using the catwalks.
Interestingly, neither fieldhouse (built in 1979-80) nor the gym were renovated or improved during the 2003-05 project, either
For those who are (rightfully) appalled at the disparity in the locker rooms for boys and girls sports this is sadly nothing new. When I was at UNC Chapel Hill for my sports med MS physical therapy degree I covered both men’s and women’s sports. When I worked women’s basketball for two seasons the contrast between what the men had in the Dean Smith Center vs. what the women had in the Fetzer Gym was stark. It was explained to me in D1 athletics it’s the difference between revenue and non-revenue generating sports; in other words it’s all about the money. For an affluent town like Westport however to see what the girls at Staples have to endure is pretty sad.
This would be nothing new if it were 1985. UNC has fixed its problems over the last 4 decades.