The Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) building will undergo major renovations this upcoming summer, including improvements to the building’s HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) system, lighting, ceilings, stage rigging and seating.

“The HVAC system has to be completely redone, so they’re taking out all the air handlers and blowers and duct work throughout the building,” YPAS Assistant Principal Mr. Bryan Crady said.

The building will be equipped with elevators, as well as handicap-accessible bathrooms on every floor.

“We should be the last building in JCPS to get an elevator,” Crady said. “We’ll finally be up to ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards.”

According to Crady, the YPAS building has been in need of renovations for some time.

“For several years, we had broken seats,” he said. “The parents started trying to raise money to do renovations and they raised a little bit, but not enough. The district had us on the schedule for an HVAC update in a few years. The system that we have is too old to buy parts for anymore.”

The newly-done rehearsal spaces and classrooms are scheduled to be completed by the beginning of the 2016-17 school year, but the performance spaces will not be ready until October or November of 2016.

Crady said that administrators are considering moving YPAS’ annual musical until second semester, since the stage will not be ready in time to accommodate a fall show.

Improvements to the building will offer more than just structural benefits, as they will allow Design and Production students to work with updated digital technology comparable to what is used on an industry level.

“We try to train the students in Design and Production to go onto college and go on in that field,” Crady said. “Everything at the college level is digital, and we’re still running analog stuff.”