By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
A proposed plan for building a performing arts center costing millions of dollars was publicly unveiled for the first time during a regular meeting of the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustees.
A recent gathering between DWilson Construction, SBCISD Fine Arts Department staff, and Superintendent Fred Perez resulted in updates that will cost $24.162 million to construct the center, which will be located near Veterans Memorial Academy.
Construction will last 18 to 20 months beginning on June 26, 2026, according to DWilson’s project schedule that was introduced during the meeting. Sitework construction would begin Jan. 12, 2026 and last five months.
According to DWilson Construction, the building will have 30,996 of square footage. The first level will comprise of 21,233 square feet and the second level 9,763 square feet.
DWilson Construction and SBCISD signed a contract Aug. 8 with an initial concept presentation introduced a month later.
At the time, there were plans that would construct a larger lobby to host events with an agreement it would be a 900-seat house. The building location along Oscar Williams Road was also agreed upon at the September meeting.
Then, at an Oct. 8 meeting between SBCISD administrators and the construction company, the proposed cost of the center was $22.6 million. At this meeting, additional building requests were made, raising the total cost by nearly $1.5 million.
Those additions and their proposed costs are a fly tower ($1.2 million), moving the sound booth from the back of house for a larger lobby space ($40,000), and a modified orchestra pit addition ($210,000), said Aaron Handley, who is DWilson Construction’s design manager for pre-construction services.
At Perez’s request, he asked Handley to explain what a fly tower is and its usage.
“The 80-foot fly tower that sits higher than the house allows for rigging; to pull out the scenes and draperies out of view of the audience as you’re changing scenes during a performance,” Handley said.
Perez said in speaking to other school district administrators, most don’t have fly towers at their performing arts centers.
“School districts have to rent (riggings) out when there are performances,” Perez said. “It has to be set up and it costs (tens of) thousands of dollars to use it each time.”
The lobby could also be used to host luncheons and dinners, seating up to 100 table guests.
DWilson Construction’s Design Leader Robert Pineda said the firm likes to “play with the notion or the idea of respecting the land, the people, and the culture.”
The land designated for the building would be adjacent to VMA. The people are SBCISD students, and the culture reflected in motifs such as charro suits, folklorico dresses, and instruments like the accordion and bajo sexto are inspired by the building’s exterior design, Pineda said.
“We wanted to celebrate the students, because this building is for them,” Pineda said to the trustees.
The building’s exterior colors resemble a Rio Grande Valley sunset, as Pineda described. It also features some purple, which is the official color of San Benito CISD.
After showing the architectural design during the meeting, Trustee Crystal Hernandez said, “there is no question it is (going to be) a beautiful building; it looks amazing.”
According to DWilson’s project schedule, the design phase of the proposed performance arts center, which includes schematic design, site package, design development, and construction documents, will run through May 22, 2026.
SBCISD leaders will get their first look at the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) package for site work starting next month, which continues through June 2026. The second GMP package for the building is scheduled for May and June of next year.
“These are preliminary images, so things are subject to change,” Handley said. “None of this is by any means final, but it gives a good idea of the design intent and what we’re aiming to create for San Benito CISD.”
The performing arts center presentation lasted nearly 20 minutes in discussions with trustees.