Huntington Beach Union High School District Auditorium Renovation and Classroom Addition Embraces the Old and New

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA– McCarthy Building Companies, Inc (www.mccarthy.com) of Newport Beach, Calif. announces the completion of restoration work on the 83-year-old Huntington Beach Union High School District (HBUHSD) Darrel Stillwagon auditorium (middle left photo)  and bell tower (top right photo)  and a new performing arts classroom addition.

Located at the Huntington Beach High School (HBHS) campus on Main Street and Yorktown Avenue in Huntington Beach, the auditorium was one of the first buildings constructed on the campus in 1926, and the school was the first permanent high school in the school district.

The auditorium facility will formally reopen to the public during a celebration on Sunday, October 18, 2009. The event coincides with the school district’s Academy for the Performing Arts’ (http://www.hbapa.org/ ) debut of a musical about the Titanic.

The $9.6 million HBUHSD performing arts project was funded through the $238 million Measure C modernization and expansion program encompassing school facility improvements at six high schools in the district.


McCarthy served as construction manager for the project which entailed construction of a new 9,200-square-foot performing arts classroom building and courtyard as well as extensive renovations of a 27,000 square-foot, 600-seat performing arts auditorium and bell tower. The project also included renovation of outdoor walkways and an outdoor amphitheater on the auditorium’s south side.

The auditorium and bell tower are listed with the County of Orange as Historic Site #36. Designed in the Lombard Romanesque Revival Style, the facility’s original architect was Allison and Allison of Santa Ana.

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the nation’s 10th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2009) and among the 5th largest education builders (Engineering News-Record, October 2008). The firm has been building in the education market for the last 50 years.

Contacts:
 Laura Mickelson , (LM Communications), (949) 453-0851; (949) 453-8420 fax
lauramickelson@cox.net.   Follow me on Twitter: @lauramickelson

Susan Garritano,  (McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.), (314) 968-3300