The community of Hays is well known for its love of the fine arts. As such, it has always supported the Hays High music and theater departments, which are at present growing and thriving.

What a wonderful addition to our community a High School auditorium would be. It would provide a space for Hays High music and theatre groups to perform on their own campus, instead of transporting thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment and instruments back and forth to 12th St. Auditorium or Beach/Schmidt PAC, often incurring damage along the way. It would provide a beautiful place for the Middle School, Elementary Schools, and other community groups to perform. Currently they must perform in gyms, the unsafe, technically very outdated 12th St. Auditorium, or Beach/Schmidt which costs thousands of dollars a year to rent and is very busy, making it difficult to schedule school events there.

A high school auditorium would provide much needed space when Hays High hosts its frequent multi school festivals. Hays High is the only Western Athletic Conference school that does not have its own auditorium. With enrollment projected to rise, Hays High will soon become a 5A school again, and as such, will be one of just a handful, if not the only, 5A school in the state that does not have an auditorium. This does not reflect to other communities the thriving arts scene we actually have in Hays. The arts are an important factor in drawing new people to our community.

Also, very importantly, the auditorium will be very versatile. It can be divided up physically into smaller rooms for lectures, classes and other events and would be used consistently, not just for performances.

The upcoming bond issue would ensure a wonderful, useful new auditorium for our community.

Joan Crull, Johnny Matlock, Matt Rome, Renetta Dawson, Nathan Mark, Gloria Blackwell, JoLeen Cunningham, Bill Gasper, Codi Fenwick