Last week saw the achievement of part of a long-term goal at the Minot State University Summer Theatre with the installation of four rows of new stadium seating along the top rows of the Amphitheater.
The season closed for that performance space July 25 -- the troupe has one final production this summer set for the Aleshire Theater in Hartnett Hall Aug. 25-27. Summer Theatre executive director Kevin Neuharth said last week was the best week for the contractors -- Seating and Athletic Facility Enterprises of Ellendale, Minn. -- to get in and do the installation.
"We tried to get it done before, but their timing and our timing, it didn't work out," he said. "So we decided to get it done now and then it's done for next season."
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Terry J. Aman/MDN - - Workers install new seating at the Minot State University Summer Theatre Amphitheater north of the MSU Dome.
The seating replaces dozens of removable plastic seats that were set out on concrete for shows and then stored away between performances. The opportunity to replace them presented itself this season.
"That was always the goal (to replace them)," he said. "We just had so many chairs in the bottom part, but it was always the goal to go all the way to the top. And then we got our anonymous gift in December for about the amount it would cost to put in the rest of the chairs."
The new seating -- four rows of about 150 chairs, he said -- came to some $25,000, including installation. Neuharth estimated the costs to replace the rest of the seating would come to about $50,000 to $60,000.
"Those are all inside seats, so we want to replace those," he said. "That's our goal."