Manatee High School Adds New Music Building

Bradenton high school students interested in the performing arts soon will have a new place to hone their skills.

Construction is underway for a music building at Manatee High School, located at 902 33 St.. The new building will replace the old Davis Building, named for former Principal Paul F. Davis. The project, which boasts the largest auditorium in the district, is due to be completed by July 2011.

According to Alexander Long, an architect with Tampa's Long & Associates Architects / Engineers, the new 70,000-square-foot building will contain 25 classrooms, the school's band, orchestra and vocal programs, and an 800-seat auditorium with a working stage and dressing rooms.

Long says the architecture makes the most of natural light. "All student-occupied spaces have natural daylight and views, and the central gathering space sits under a 54-foot-wide skylight in the heart of the building.

"The project is four years in the making and the result of painstaking research on the original building, which was built in 1926," continues Long. "The new building had to combine two original decayed wood and brick structures that housed both the classrooms and the music program while maintaining the street presence and character of the original building. The project borrows from the 'collegiate' style of the original architecture and addresses the street with the same dimensions and setback to exemplify the strength, integrity and tradition of the original campus."

Writer: Missy Kavanaugh
Source: Alex Long, Long & Associates Architects/Engineers