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The Practical Arts Building
The end of W.W.I brought the attention of the citizens of
Manchester back to local matters. The classical building,
now over twenty years old, lacked facilities like a gym and
study areas. Student populations were increasing steadily,
and space for classes such as cooking and building trades
were needed. The result was the construction of the
Practical Arts (P.A.) Building, located across Concord
Street from the classical building.
The P.A. had many improvements for the school, such as an
auditorium with seating capacity for fifteen hundred people,
a 40 by 80 foot gymnasium with a nine foot balcony around
the perimeter used to view sporting events and, for 45
years, where lunch was served, and four floors of
classrooms. In order to heat and electrify the building, the
now infamous tunnel was built between the P.A. and Classical
Buildings. Electrical lines and steam pipes line one wall of
the tunnel, the source of many burns over the years. The
opposite side of the tunnel was covered in a beautiful mural
started in the late 1960's, but that, unfortunately, was
painted over in 1998.
Today the P.A. is still in heavy use. The auditorium,
recently repainted, is in limited use for theatrical
performance due to unsafe rigging over the stage, but is
still used frequently for school assemblies as well as study
halls. It was renamed the McAllaster Auditorium in 1999 for
Mr. William R. McAllaster, class of 1913. He was a teacher
in the school's music department for most of his adult
professional life. He was responsible for the theatrical
performances of the school. The gymnasium was removed with
the construction of the James Building and the attached
Simon Gymnasium. This space was converted into the school's
music department, housing rooms for the orchestra and
choruses. The majority of the rest of the building has been
unchanged since its construction. Services housed in the
building include Central's English Language Learners program, along with Health, Social Studies, Math, Home
Economics, English, and Business classes. Various sociology
classes are also taught here, such as psychology and social
issues and the law. The school's store is also located on
the second floor of the building.
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