Batavia Fine Arts Centre kicks off in style
The couple, elegantly dressed in black, strolled down the red carpet.
From across the red velvet rope, a TV camera focused on them, and a perky interviewer asked the woman which designer’s dress she was wearing.
“J. Crew,” the woman replied smiling.
“He’s a wonderful designer,” said the man, who was wearing an Armani tuxedo.
Batavia residents Scott and Michelle Descourouez were among hundreds who on Saturday evening attended the Red Carpet Gala opening of the Batavia Fine Arts Centre.
The TV crew was from Batavia Access Television, with board member Allison Niemela in the role of correspondent.
The event featured hors d’oeuvres and refreshments, tours of the visual and performing arts center, and dance, theater, music and improv performances well into the night.
The Batavia Fine Arts Centre is part of Batavia High School but will serve as a space not just for the school, center Director Dominic Cattero said.
“We are bringing all the arts together under one roof, and we want to be accessible not just to the district, but community groups as well,” Cattero said.
Batavia School District 101 Board President Ron Link called the new center a “spectacular” addition to the community. “We are so blessed that the community supported us,” he said, referring to $75 million from a 2007 referendum that was used to expand the high school and Rotolo Middle School and to improve elementary school buildings.
Retired drama and building trades teacher Page McCloud said that a few years ago he was among a team from Batavia High School who surveyed high school auditoriums for planning purposes.
“I made a spreadsheet, a sort of Christmas wish list, and this basically has it all,” McCloud said. “A trap door, state-of-the-art lighting, comfortable seats, a real orchestra pit,” he said. “There is something in here for every student that wants to do something in theater.”
Theater student Emma Kegerris, a senior at Batavia High School, said having a new performance space is really exciting. “Going from the ‘cafetorium’ to this,” Kegerris said about the high school cafeteria that doubled as auditorium, “is like culture shock.”