DIAMOND JUBILEE AUDITORIUM

Why? (Click here for pictures of the existing hall)

The existing school hall was constructed in the late 1950s. It has served the school well for the past five decades and more. In the hall about 500 persons can be seated on simple fibre chairs. If students are seated on the floor about 800 can be accommodated.  At present there are over 2500 students and this number is likely to grow further.

For years we have been organizing major functions, such as school days, parents’ days, House days, etc. outdoors. Improvising shamianas and stages and providing quality sound and light have always been a challenge. Open grounds for such programmes also pose other challenges of crowd management.  In the current social ethos of Hazaribag we feel that for the sake of safety, security and efficient management we need to go indoors for such functions. The time is ripe for replacing the old hall with a larger one with better lighting and acoustics.

Beginnnings (Click here for architecural drawings)

At the conclusion of the school’s Diamond Jubilee celebration on Jan 28, 2012, a symbolic function was held to unveil a foundation plaque expressing the intent to build this auditorium. Subsequently, Ranchi based renowned architect Chadda & Associates were commissioned to draw up the architectural plans. Having secured all necessary permissions from the school management and Hazaribag Municipality, through competitive bidding the contract was awarded to Mr. Saurabh Jain. The foundation blessing and laying was done on April 21, 2015.

Design and Location (Click here for location)

The auditorium will accommodate about1800 persons. It is located parallel to the Cronin Block, east-west, to the west side of the main drive way about 30 metres from the main entrance. The lower ground floor will house a large multi-purpose hall, conference hall, green rooms, kitchen, parking space and toilets. The hall will serve as students’ assembly and lunch space as well as dining area when the school hosts interschool events. This section of the auditorium is ready and is already in use since summer 2015.

The auditorium can accommodate about 1200 seats and the balcony another 600. The plain area of the auditorium also be used for workshops, etc. Tiered seating will be provided in the rest of this floor as well as in the balcony. Arrangements have been made to provide state of the art acoustics and excellent quality sound and light facilities. At the present rate of work, the auditorium will be fully operational by Jan 2016.

Uses (Click here for an artist's impression of the final look of the Auditorium)

Co-curricular activities are an essential aspect of school life. We will use the auditorium for elocution and speech, quizzes, dramas, singing, dancing and other cultural programmes and competitions.  We will be able to have the major functions of the school year such as inauguration of the academic year, welcome and farewell ceremonies, prayer meetings, annual days, dramatics and elocution clubs, cultural programmes, parents’ meetings, workshops, seminars and so on.  Facilities of this scale and quality are not available in Hazaribag. The auditorium will be exclusively for educational use and not for commercial purposes and revenue generation.

Funding (Click here for a slide show on the auditorium work)

The total estimated cost of the project is about eight crores, about half of which has already been paid off. The school can cover about 60 % of the cost by draining all its reserves. Fund raising efforts over the last two years have been able to yield a little over one crore, mostly from parents. The contributions from the alumni (with the notable exception of the 1968 batch and the Kolkata Chapter), who do not have children in the school now, have not been significant. We do not wish to have a situation where heavy loans and interest payments make the normal day-to-day running and maintenance of the school difficult. Therefore HOXAns and benefactors of the school are requested to contribute generously to this project.

To know how to donate please visit the next page or follow the link: http://www.sxshzb.org/Donor-Wall.htm