Harwood Union High School’s theater program presented four performances of its spring musical “Anything Goes” on the high school stage this weekend, which also served as the backdrop to announce a $1.3 million fundraising campaign to fund upgrades to the school’s auditorium infrastructure.
As he introduced each performance this past Thursday through Saturday, musical director Scott Weigand took a few minutes to fill in audiences on HARP, short for Harwood Auditorium Revitalization Project.
Improvements for performing arts and other uses of the auditorium’s stage, sound system, and overall space have long been on the school’s renovation list. Weigand said no upgrades have been done since the late 1990s.
Voters in November 2021 rejected a nearly $60 million bond that would have addressed Harwood building needs along with merging the middle schools at Crossett Brook. In late 2023 and early 2024, a renewed effort focusing just on Harwood renovations began but was halted last spring after voters rejected the 2024-25 school budget on Town Meeting Day. School administrators and the school board put the brakes on renovation plans to instead focus on revising the budget which voters ultimately supported on the third vote in May. This year, voters approved the budget for the 2025-26 school year on Town Meeting Day, but school leaders have yet to resume work on Harwood renovation plans.
The community-focused campaign announced this weekend now aims to separate the auditorium upgrades with a specific appeal in the hope that the work can be done sooner rather than later. The key elements of the project would be purchasing new wireless body microphones, overhauling the lighting system, upgrading the audio-visual system, and replacing the stage curtain and fly system.
The “Anything Goes” program (pictured below) contained details about the fundraiser and a link to the donation website. It explains that the project looks to benefit students, educators, and the broader community. “HARP aims to transform an aging facility into a vibrant, safe and fully-equipped space that reflects the talent and dedication of our students and community,” the announcement says.
In the coming months, HARP will hold fundraising events and offer sponsorship opportunities along with seeking grant funding for the effort. “The goal is to secure $1.3 million by 2026,” the announcement states.
Donations are being collected through the Harwood Boosters organization, making them tax-deductible, Weigand noted. More about HARP can be found here:
More pictures by Gordon Miller of the musical can be seen on the Waterbury Roundabout site here: https://my.cheddarup.com/c/harwoodtheater/barriers/visitor-report?cart
