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Saugus High School Opens New Performing Arts Center (VIDEO)

Saugus High School hosted a grand opening ceremony Monday night for their new Performing Arts Center: The Forum.


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Officials with Saugus High and the Hart School District helped kick off the grand opening event by speaking to attendees about the importance of the new center.

“Everything in life happens in moments,” said Steve Sturgeon, Hart Board President. “The Performing Arts Center opens tonight in a moment, and it will represent the next hundred thousand stories that will pass through its doors.”

Nicknamed “The Forum” in honor of the school’s Roman theme, the nearly 19,000 square foot facility features over 450 seats, a classroom, several green rooms, dressing rooms and a stagecraft room.

During the opening ceremony, Principal Vince Ferry mentioned Saugus High’s past performing arts center as a firm launching point for their future.

“For over 40 years, the humble walls of the E Building served as Saugus High School’s multi-purpose room and performing arts center,” Ferry said. “Although small in stature, the E Building provided us with a strong foundation… and it’s because of this strong foundation, along with the celebrated traditions of our performing arts programs, that make the opening of this state-of-the-art venue even more exciting.”

Related: Saugus High School Performing Arts Center To Open Next Year

After the ribbon was cut and dozens of people in attendance were allowed inside, the new Performing Arts Center held its first performances from the Saugus choir, theatre, band, and dance programs.

“Long in the future when students have come and gone from high school to college and different stages of life, you know what they’re going to remember most?” asked Bill Bolde, the former principal of Saugus High that helped oversee the development of the center. “They’re going to remember the times they were on this stage.”

The road to creating the new Performing Arts Center was a long and difficult journey, according to Bolde.

The process initially began in the early 2000’s, when a committee of faculty members and parents from Canyon High and Saugus High began traveling to places including Glendale and Thousand Oaks in order to look at modern performing arts centers to see what they wanted in their own.

“We were looking at ‘in’ kinds of theatres like this,” Bolde said. “Over the course of time, we were able to get information and get the facts, and began to dream.

However, these dreams were put on hold when the Great Recession hit the nation in 2008, postponing any further work on the project until 2012, according to Bolde.

Related: Hart District Officials Break Ground For Saugus High School Performing Arts Center

Once they started working towards the opening of the center again, officials began working with architects to create the design and feel of the new building.

Then, in May of 2016, district officials broke ground for the center.

“It’s a gem for the community,” said Rob Hall, who was serving as the Hart Board President at the time. “Saugus will now have a performing arts center and a place where people can go to watch the arts of our great kids.”

Now, two years later, the Forum is officially open for students to perform in front of their family, friends and community.

On the side of the new facility, the words “Art is the heart of the human spirit” are written, which Bolde says is indicative of the purpose of the Forum.

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Saugus High School Opens New Performing Arts Center (VIDEO)

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About Michael Brown

Michael Brown has lived in Santa Clarita his whole life. Graduating from Saugus High School in 2016, he continued to stay local by attending The Master’s University, where he achieved a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. Michael joined KHTS in January of 2018 as a news intern, and has since gone on to become the News Director for the KHTS Newsroom. Since joining KHTS, Michael has covered many breaking news stories (both on scene and on air), interviewed dozens of prominent state and federal political figures, and interacted with hundreds of residents from Santa Clarita. When he is not working, Michael enjoys spending time with his family, as well as reading any comic book he can get his hands on.