A new life: PSJA Osodome renovation project in early stages

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Built in 1960, the PSJA auditorium called the Osodome, has been sitting dormant since the early 2010s, but it is currently in the early phases of a renovation project to be used again as a central location for fine arts in the district and the community.

PSJA ISD Superintendent and alumnus Alejandro Elias called the dome structure an iconic and historic building.

“This building needs to be brought back to standards where it can function and have that 1,200 sitting capacity that it had … We all know that the dome is iconic,” Elias said. “Everybody here in the Valley knows our two domes, of course the athletic one and then this one, our auditorium for the fine arts … I think everybody would be happy to see it. There’s a lot of alumni still that would want to see it come back and be properly used, instead of just sitting as a dormant building.”

The PSJA ISD school board voted at a meeting on Dec. 9 for Elias to start getting bids from contractors for the construction aspect of the project.

“Right now we only have the engineering specs, so that would be next in the process to go out for a contractor bid,” he said.

Elias said the goal for the Osodome is for the students in the district and the community to utilize the seating capacity for concerts, competitions and events.

“We have all these fine art programs that we run out of areas where they can participate in functions or events and now by having this iconic dome back in functioning matter, then we can also utilize it for all these huge events,” he said. “Now we can even invite other districts that would want to come compete with ours. I know we do that but we usually do it out of the stadium. Our auditoriums at each high school, the capacity is about 400 to 450 but when you’re talking about 1,200 seats, that really sets the stage for all these huge events, UIL events that could be held here at our district.”

The renovation project has a list of upgrades needed for the building such as renovating the stage, updating the air conditioning, the seats, new lighting and making it Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

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“That’s one of the things we’re going to put in the bid is that we expect that within a year,” Elias said. “So, it would be from spring to next spring.”

Waiting to get bids based on what the district is asking for, the superintendent said he does not want to throw a number out there but said the price tag should be manageable considering the district has a healthy general fund balance.

“We do have the funds because we did allocate already and set aside funding that could be used for that project,” he said. “We have a very healthy general funds balance and of course, some of it has to be allocated for construction projects. We haven’t done many construction projects since I came in so I think it’s time to because you do have to utilize some of those monies.”

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