The HM Construction Management team is pleased to announce that Helix Charter School’s Performing Arts Center is now open. Students and teachers first began occupying and utilizing the new state of the art complex on January 8, 2014.

This project, which was made possible by the Proposition U bond initiative that was passed in 2008, enabled the school to construct a brand new, 34,000 square-foot performing arts complex on the Helix Charter campus in La Mesa. The new facility features a theater, which will seat 400 (more than doubling the previous center’s capacity of just 175). It also includes dressing rooms, a black box area for intimate performances, dance studio, offices for teachers, a music library, and more. The center’s state of the art A/V and acoustical equipment are, frankly, second to none.

This project was unique in a couple of ways. First, Hughes Marino was not managing the construction of just a building. This complex truly offers an exceptional environment for students with artistic leanings to hone their crafts. For musicians, dancers, artists, and drama students, the new Helix Charter School Performing Arts Center will provide a place for the artists and entertainers of the future to learn, practice and perform in front of audiences. Moreover, the complex will be available for use by the surrounding community of La Mesa.

Secondly, our role was also unique in the way we consulted with end-users to ensure their voices were heard throughout the construction process. Our primary focus was on safeguarding the needs of the teachers and students. We spent a great deal of time working with teachers to determine where things needed to be located in order to maximize the usability of the building. Whether we were asking what their offices needed to look like, or where they wanted equipment to be housed, the input from those who would be using the center was paramount to this project’s success.

We are so pleased that the beautiful new complex is now open, and we are thrilled to have been a part of this project. We hope that you’ll enjoy a performance at the Helix Charter School Performing Arts Complex very soon.