By Frisco STYLE
Frisco ISD, the City of Frisco and Hall Park jointlybrannounced on Thursday that they will no longer partner on a Frisco performingbrarts center that was to be built at Hall Park. br
In a statement distributed separately by Frisco ISD, thebrdistrict explained that “after months of meticulous research and reviewingbrentity priorities, Frisco ISD has decided it will best serve students bybrindependently building a Visual and Performing Arts Center using land alreadybrowned by the District.
“A project that could meet the needs of all the partiesbrwould require additional financing from both the public and private sectors, sobrit was determined that the best way for the district to move forward is tobrbuild a facility with the core purpose of serving students.”
According to the district, conversations regarding a futurebrFrisco ISD fine arts facility began in 2018. Community members served on a Facilitiesbrand Programs Evaluation Committee and encouraged FISD to explore potentialbrpartnerships before deciding on a plan for a facility. In November of thatbryear, voters approved a $691 million bond package that earmarked $43 millionbrfor the fine arts facility.
The fine arts facility described to and approved by FriscobrISD voters in 2018 included a 1,250-seat auditorium and spaces for a gallery,brinstructional training and offices. In the years since, the district said, itsbrleadership has “engaged several entities interested in expanding arts educationbrand student opportunity.”
In June 2021, a master development agreement was approvedbrbetween the City of Frisco, Frisco ISD, the Frisco Economic Development andbrCommunity Development Corporations and HALL Group Founder and President CraigbrHall to build a performing arts center at the sprawling office park. Asbrreported in Frisco STYLE last fall, the facility was proposed to includebra 1,250-1,500-seat main performance hall, a 250- to 350-seat community theater,bra nearly six-acre park and a parking garage.
According to FISD’s statement, during feasibilitybrexplorations,the district temporarily agreed to expand the scope of the projectbrto 1,500 seats to accommodate potential use by commercial entities. However, itbrnow plans to move forward with the project that was originally presented tobrvoters.
The FISD project will include: <br
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- A facility with a maximum capacity of 1,250, whichbris more than double the size of current FISD campus auditoriums.
- Expanded future-ready learning and studentbropportunities.
- Expanded collaborative performances between finebrarts disciplines, campuses and grade levels.
- Maximized student instructional time by hostingbrstudent events at the fine arts facility that normally occur during the schoolbrday.
- Use of the facility more than 160 days per year,brwith the potential for outside groups and/or partners to utilize the facilitybras well.
- Future hosting of UIL and evaluative competitivebrevents in order to reduce fine arts instructional time lost at host campuses.
“The community asked us to do our due diligence and explorebropportunities with the potential to benefit our students, and I am proud to saybrwe have done that,” Frisco ISD Board President René Archambault said. “We arebrthankful for the support and vision from the City of Frisco and Craig Hallbrthroughout this partnership exploration. We share the same goal of an expandedbrand thriving arts community in Frisco, and we look forward to helping shapebrthat future through increased opportunities for young people in the fine arts.”br
Design work on the FISD Visual and Performing Arts Center couldbrcommence this fall.
In Thursday’s joint statement from Frisco ISD, the City ofbrFrisco and Hall Park, it was explained that in January of this year, thebrcollective group engaged experts to conduct a feasibility study, spatialbranalysis and review the needs of community arts organizations.
According to the statement, “Due to each partner’s uniquebrpriorities, responsibility to its stakeholders and cost concerns, the partnersbrwere prevented from moving forward as a collective group.”
“We’re grateful for such a thorough process,” Frisco MayorbrJeff Cheney said in the statement. “We learned so much about the state of ‘thebrarts’ in our community. From the needs of our various arts and community groupsbrto the dream of bringing Broadway to Frisco, the demand for arts has never beenbrhigher. As a result, I’m more confident than ever Frisco can support a premierbrperforming arts facility benefiting the entire region. While this partnershipbrproject is changing direction, the district remains the city’s most valuedbrpartner.”
Craig Hall, founder and chairman of Hall Group, in thebrstatement said, “Hall Group remains as committed as ever to increasing thebraccessibility of the arts for Frisco citizens, as has been the case since webrbegan developing Hall Park and the Texas Sculpture Garden in the late 1990s.
“Frisco has had an impressive track record ofbrsuccessful public-private partnerships, and while this particular partnershipbrhas changed course, we are still actively supporting the City of Frisco’sbrdevelopment of a programmed community park that will include many exciting artbrelements and we look forward to having more opportunities to work with thesebrparties again in the future.”
