CHARLOTTE — What was once a gravel parking lot adjacent to Charlotte Catholic High School on Pineville-Matthews Road now boasts the makings of the MACS Fine Arts Center. The 47,700-square-foot facility will house a 600-seat auditorium and a high-quality performance and exhibit space for students in Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools.
Diocesan officials report that construction is progressing nicely on the $21 million project, which is now 75 percent complete.
As it stands now, construction of the building’s interior walls is complete and the bulk of the interior electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems are in place. What remains to be completed in the Fine Arts Center building: primarily interior finishes, such as paint, drywall, acoustical ceilings and flooring.
Construction of the MACS Fine Arts Center is expected to be substantially complete by March, after which the process of installing furnishings and technology will begin.
This summer, renovation work will begin in the existing Charlotte Catholic High School building in the areas that will be vacated by classes moving to the new MACS Fine Arts Center building. The interior renovation work for the final phase of the project includes converting the stage area in the existing gymnasium into a practice court for basketball.
When completed, the MACS Fine Arts Center will also house an art room, band room, choral room, ceramics studio, dance studio, digital lab, stage and theater. Charlotte Catholic’s visual and performing arts classes will move to the new center, freeing up space inside the high school for other classroom use as well as space for a weight room, wrestling room and more.
Charlotte Catholic High School anticipates holding classes in the new Fine Arts Center building in August 2022.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter