City of Buckhannon to Develop Request for Proposal for New Colonial Arts Theatre Seating

November 26, 2022

Mountaineer News

Buckhannon City Council

Colonial Arts Center Manager Anne Wilson addresses City Council during the November 17th Council meeting

BUCKHANNON - Colonial Arts Center Manager Anne Wilson provided a slideshow presentation during the November 17th City Council meeting, detailing seating options being considered for the Colonial Theatre's Balcony Theatre and Main Stage Hall.

"I will start upstairs in the Balcony Theatre... we pretty much already know what type of seating we want to have up there so, there's really one option. We know that we can fit 80 seats up there and we know that we want them to be fixed-seating... we don't really need them to move or anything like that because it's a small stage... there's really only one way to configure the seats," Wilson said.

"The price we're looking at for the Balcony Theatre is between $24,000 - $32,000. This breaks down to $300 - $400 per seat," she stated.

The material is vinyl and leather looking for easy maintenance; Seats will be lettered and numbered. Wilson provided a closer look of what the seating would look like via a diagram.

Diagram of Balcony Theatre seating

For the Main Hall, six telescopic platform options were discussed containing 3 different types of seats; plastic bleachers, vinyl chairs and vinyl + chairs. Wilson broke down the varying arrangements and scenarios for each theatre-style seating type. Watch the full presentation below.

Telescopic platforms

From the seating options that have been considered for both the Balcony Theatre and Main Hall, cost will range between $300 - $2100 per seat. Wilson also provided a list of pros and cons relating to the telescoping style and loose-chair seating presented.

At the conclusion of the presentation, City Finance and Administrative Director Amberle Jenkins addressed Council and recommended using Item F1 in the meeting agenda to authorize for an RFP to be put out for the chairs; It would allow Council to send out requests to some vendors to advertise for competitive bids with more detailed information, such as warranties and other manufacturer specifications.

City Councilman Jack Reger also advised (and Council agreed) that bids should be obtained with the RFP.

Watch Anne Wilson's full presentation:

Watch Amberle Jenkins provide the recommendation of authorizing an RFP and unanimous approval by Buckhannon City Council: