St. Helena Elementary School

Historic Theater & Classroom Restoration

St. Helena, CA

The St. Helena Elementary School renovation began as a mechanical and electrical repair project for the school’s original 1931 theater/classroom building and several 1950s classroom wings. However, during construction, an unrelated fire devastated the original theater building, administration and west classrooms beyond repair, giving QKA the opportunity to restore the buildings to their original beauty, including restoring the original high ceilings and large windows in the classrooms that had been covered during a 1970s heating system installation.

In addition, the historic theater underwent significant alterations, restoring the original balcony, detailed ceiling and proscenium painting, as well as adding new stairs, fixed seating for 325, lighting systems and rigging, and new wrought iron balcony rails to match the existing metal work.

School District
St. Helena Unified School District

Size
165,000 sq.ft. (Modernization)

Completion Date
October 2001

Final Construction Cost
$4.3M

Features

Elementary School
Modernization
Historic
Classrooms
Theater

Awards

2002 Merit Award | American Institute of Architects (AIA) – Redwood Empire