Principal Jacqueline McEvoy is well on her way to incorporating student input in Paly renovation plans, after meeting with theater and music students to discuss construction plans for the new theater and other structures during lunch on Monday.

McEvoy asked the students present at the meeting to fill out a questionnaire to indicate what they liked and disliked about the construction plans.

The location of this theater has been under much debate, according to McEvoy

“The placement of the theater has been, I want to say, controversial,” McEvoy said. “There are a lot of special interest groups with different opinions.”

According to McEvoy, one considered location for the new theater was the quad.

According to current plans, the new theater will be attached to the 100 building, which will allow easy access to other art classrooms.

“It [the new theater] will be with its support,” McEvoy said. “It’ll be near stagecraft and other things that go with it.”

The new theater will fit a maximum of 600 people, so it can hold one full grade at a time, according to McEvoy. It may also include an art gallery in the lobby and will be wider than the current Haymarket theater, according to McEvoy.

McEvoy said that the new theater will accommodate the music and theater programs and possible speaker series.

“We’ve had to close past speaker series to outside people because the Haymarket doesn’t do it [hold many people] well,” McEvoy said.

A new theater is not a top priority for the renovation project.

“The theater won’t be the first thing built,” McEvoy said. “We have to build classrooms first.”

Freshman Grant Harmon, who attended the meeting, thinks this is unfortunate.

“I would rather the theater be built sooner rather than later,” Harmon said. “This theater [the Haymarket theater] is okay but it’s really bad inside.”

Plans for the renovation of the Haymarket theater are still uncertain.

“The Haymarket is due for renovation but we don’t know what we’re going to do with it,” McEvoy said. “It might be a black box theater. … It could also be a flex theater; rehearsals could be held in there.”

However, the Haymarket Theater’s age limits certain types of construction.

“We can’t change the outside [of the Haymarket] because it’s a historical building, but we can improve it,” McEvoy said.

Other projects for the renovation include tower building renovations, and a media arts center and renovations of the El Camino and baseball fields.

Construction on the El Camino field will begin in the next few weeks, while construction on the baseball field is scheduled to begin on June 1, according to McEvoy.