The Four Way Community Foundation is assisting the Grants Pass School District in presenting a special variety show event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Performing Arts Center (PAC) and to launch a fundraising campaign to update and beautify the facility.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, May 18th, at 6:30 p.m. in the PAC at Grants Pass High School, which is located at NE 8th and Olive streets.
In 1996, the local foundation was instrumental in the community-wide effort to raise funds to build the 730-seat venue, providing over $500,000 from a bequest from the estate of Mel Voorhees, the Kay Pratton Fund and other charitable gifts. Numerous individuals and businesses made donations to build the facility, and voters passed a bond for the new high school which included creating the PAC, which opened in May of 1999.
The GPHS PAC has the finest acoustics of any venue between Seattle and San Francisco. It is in use almost every day by community groups, visiting performers and students. After 25 years of almost constant use, the theater needs some items that are beyond the scope of annual school district allocations.
The celebration event will launch a fundraising campaign to provide revenue for technological upgrades to facilitate backstage communications, improve lighting and make it easier to set up for more than one show at a time. Other goals are to increase disability access, freshen paint, repair handrails, and replace heavy entrance doors that often slam during performances.
For more information about donating to the PAC, contact Four Way Community Foundation at (541)-474-9774 or the Grants Pass School District at (541)-474-5700.
