AUSTIN, Texas—Austin ISD invites media to tour two newly constructed facilities, which have been funded by the district’s 2008 bond program: the Performing Arts Center and Jaime D. Padron Elementary School.

Who: Greg Goodman, director of AISD’s fine arts department, and Florence Rice, project manager for the district’s construction management department, will lead the tour of the Performing Arts Center. Rafael Soriano, principal, and Scott Rouse, project manager for the district’s construction management department, will lead the tour of Padron Elementary School.

When: 10 a.m.-noon Tuesday, July 22

Where: from 10 to 10:30 a.m. at the Performing Arts Center, 1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd., and from 11:30 a.m. to noon at Padron Elementary School, 2011 W. Rundberg Lane.

Background: AISD broke ground on the construction of a new district-wide Performing Arts Center in the Mueller development Aug. 6, 2013. The PAC, located along Mueller Boulevard between 51st Street and Barbara Jordan Boulevard, will host AISD band, orchestra, theater, dance and visual arts performances.

The PAC will support AISD’s goal to expand access to the arts for all students. Each year, thousands of students participate in AISD's award-winning fine arts programs, including art, dance, music and theatre. Working with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, AISD has helped launch Any Given Child, a community-wide partnership with the City of Austin, Mindpop and more than 40 community arts organizations to provide arts-rich classrooms and educational opportunities to every child in AISD.

Pfluger Architects, with Miro Rivera Architects, designed the 68,000-square-foot center, which is expected to be completed in November. The district is scheduling grand opening events for January 2015. The facility includes a 1,200-seat auditorium, a 250-seat black box theater, a 150-seat multipurpose room, dance rehearsal space and offices for the district’s Fine Arts Department.

This facility is projected to achieve at least a three-star rating through the Austin Energy Green Building Program and LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Austin voters approved the construction of the AISD Performing Arts Center as part of the $343.7 million 2008 Bond Program.

For facility site plans, visit http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/519410/final-design-of-aisd-performing-arts-center-nov.pdf.

AISD held the official groundbreaking and construction preview celebration for the Jaime D. Padron Elementary School on Rundberg Lane Oct. 1, 2013.

An adaptive reuse project, the site consists of a former commercial building that included a warehouse, which the district is renovating and repurposing for use as a school. The 7.6-acre site will house a 143,000-square-foot school with 57 classrooms including art, music, multipurpose and computer rooms as well as six common areas.

The design includes the addition of a second floor to maximize classroom space, skylights for natural daylight in interior classrooms and hallways, polished concrete floors, and expanded core areas to accommodate the larger student population.

This facility is designed to achieve at least a three-star rating through the Austin Energy Green Building Program and LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The district also installed a 245-kilowatt solar array on the roof, which will be tied into the main electrical service for the campus.

Austin voters approved the construction of Padron, originally described as the North Central Elementary School No. 2, as part of the $343.7 million 2008 Bond Program.

For more information, please visit austinisd.org.