Fairfield High School to replace stage floor, equipment

FAIRFIELD - Fairfield High School plans to replace the stage, pulleys and possibly all the curtains at the school auditorium.

The school district’s board of directors approved the project earlier this year, and the district’s technology director John Grunwald said he hopes the project will be complete by the start of the next school year.

Grunwald said the auditorium was built in the late 1930s. Its stage received new ropes about 12 years ago, but much of the rest of the equipment, particularly the pulleys and metal equipment, are original. Grunwald said they are wearing out and need to be replaced.

The high school plans to continue using the stage and all equipment on it for its upcoming play “Clue” on April 30 and May 1. The stage is often used not just by the drama department for its plays and musicals, but also during band and vocal concerts and school assemblies.

Grunwald said he hopes work on the stage can begin during the summer be completed in about four weeks.

“Some of that timeline depends on when the equipment can be delivered,” Grunwald said.

Grunwald said the cost of the project will be $180,000 not counting the work on the stage itself.

“The floor has been in rough shape,” Grunwald said. “We did some replacement work on it last year, but we’re seeing some warping, which is causing tripping hazards.”

Grunwald said the use of the pulleys produces a grinding sound of metal on metal, and that their bearings are starting to wear thin.

“They need to be replaced for safety reasons,” Grunwald said.