Auditorium to Get New Carpeting After Thirty Years

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

The Kodiak Island Borough School District will replace the Gerald C Wilson Auditorium’s original carpeting after thirty years of wear and tear. Katie Oliver is Executive Director of the Kodiak Arts Council and a member of the Board of Education and says the facility opened in 1986.

The area has been due for renewal and replacement.

“The borough had designated funds to replace the carpet in the foyer in 2013 as part of the normal R and R schedule for the facility through a joint process between the borough and the school district, but after the funds were allocated, the district recognized the need to use the auditorium as a pathway for high school student access to Kodiak High School during the construction project.”

Oliver says the auditorium also served as the main entrance for the public during that time and, to add to that traffic, construction displaced student activities like fencing and cheerleading, which took place in the foyer instead.

So, the space is good and ready for the change now that the high school construction is complete. Oliver says the school board recently approved the changes for an amount not to exceed $57,000.

She says the school district went to the Kodiak Arts Council for advice on patterns and colors.

“Well, we consulted artists and other users, ‘cause there are a number of community users for the auditorium, and we’ll probably stay with blue, which is sort of an iconic Kodiak color – sky, ocean – so we’re probably staying with blue.”

Oliver says as part of the upkeep, the district will replace the carpet in the foyer, the antechamber area and the two auditorium pods. It will also repaint the walls and reupholster the seating area in the auditorium