The East Performing Arts Center (PAC) has been closed since the beginning of the school year for repairs. Right now, the PAC is set to be back up and running in mid-late January.

The district began repairs in October to repair damage to the walls which caused the paint to deteriorate. The paint is intended to slow down the progression of fires if one occurs.

The closing of the PAC has affected curricular and extracurricular activities that happen in the school, including the East Band.

Band director Stevan Rexroat had to relocate band concerts to the gym so they could have a more pleasing sound to the audience when performing. A change of scenery that is familiar to many band students.

“In our junior high programs, they perform in gyms all the time, and so, we are used to it,” Rexroat said.

As for the jazz band, concerts will be relocated to a junior high since they have more equipment that the program needs.

“One of our jazz concerts, we’re trying to actually do a junior high so that there are more sound options available, rather than in the gym where you only have one microphone,” Rexroat said.

The necessary changes have been hectic as programs continue with little normalcy. Over the past three months, it’s started to get easier to work their way around the issue.

Choir director Samuel Moore had to hold the first choir concert of the year at Oswego High School.

“Speaking from a director’s standpoint, I am, for a fact, missing having such a high-quality performing art space readily accessible to us. I’m missing the loss of tradition, like with our holiday concerts,” Moore said. 

For both choir and band programs, they are forced to split their concert into two rather than doing the concert together like in the past years, breaking the tradition.

“My heart goes out to all of our seniors who are getting to or having, having to have their last holiday concert changed in such a drastic format. I know that this is only temporary, and we’re very excited to be back in there starting in the spring,” Moore said.

The students have easily adapted and been flexible to the changes in venues, realizing how different this school year has been so far. With different days for the concerts and changes in where they perform, not only do the students have to adjust, but so do the staff. 

“I miss our PAC. We’ve done a great job making do with what we can, but nothing is going to have that kind of performance space readily available to us, and we’re all, I think I’m speaking for both the choir, band programs, and all of the performing arts, when we say we miss our space,” Moore said.

The athletic awards and signings, the fine arts programs, and blood drives are all impacted by the PAC’s closing. Third-party events such as dance competitions and cultural dances are also being moved.

Estefany Sanchez, the PAC Manager, takes care of event management and facility scheduling during the school year. 

“I know it affects more events, rather than it does to us. But any big setup, we can actually do, which we’ve done in the past. So it’s nothing new to us, but it’s definitely new to the programs. But other than that, we’re busy all year round. So this space, the auditorium, is one of the most used spaces in the District, aside from the one at OH,” Sanchez said.

As more time passes, anxiety is rising because each event has to relocate to a new venue. If the repairs stay on schedule the PAC should be reopened in time for 2nd semester’s major events like the musical and dance competitions.

Written by seniors Geovanni Jurado and Melynda Patton. Edited by staff writers for Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl.