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By the time the 2025-26 school year opens, Los Fresnos will have a brand new Performing Arts Center along Highway 100 in the heart of the city’s business district.
The new facility is the latest piece in a $63 million bond issue approved by voters in 2021 that allowed the Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent School District to relocate a middle school, re-purpose the old building into a CTE center, make a long-awaited investment in the arts, and other projects.
“We have set out through our profile of a graduate to educate the whole child. For years, we had made investments in those other extracurricular activities like athletics, but the arts were performing on gym floors. We will now have a venue that will not only enrich the lives of students, it’ll enrich the life of the community,” Los Fresnos Superintendent Gonzalo Salazar said.
The new Performing Arts Center will have 32,000 square feet of space, three rehearsal halls, a state-of-the-art theater with advanced technology, lighting and rigging, and a lobby large enough to host an art show or other district gathering, according to specifications provided by the district.
Noble Texas Builders is the contractor. Salazar said district officials visited other PACs during the design phase to avoid pitfalls.
“Oftentimes we heard it was too small. We made sure we are not building yesterday’s PAC but tomorrow’s, that will accommodate our graduating classes and our staff, and also welcome a large part of our community to see the great things happening in our public schools, how we celebrate culture, how we teach kids about the arts,” he said.
“Los Fresnos has also been very competitive in UIL academics … theater arts, the one-act play. …We set out to do everything well. If we do mariachi we’re going to do it with excellence. If we do conjunto we’re going to do it with excellence,” he added. “…Our kids have been practicing in the cafetoriums. Now, we’ll be able to host UIL competitions, but our students will be able to perform for the community.”
The superintendent also said Los Fresnos educates 80% economically disadvantaged students, “and so part of what we have to do to educate children is to provide the experiences that they would otherwise not have.”
“We expect to have our convocation there. Our staff has been meeting in the gym at Los Fresnos United, in the dome, a facility that doesn’t quite have the acoustics for a convocation, which is our staff coming together as a congregation to set the tone for the coming school year,” Salazar added.
