Good news: the Barrington Middle School auditorium has been reopened.

Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore said the district was given the green light to reopen the middle school auditorium last week after the contractor reinstalled the acoustic wall panels. Messore said the work was completed at no additional cost to the district.

“It’s good to go,” Messore said.

The state-of-the-art auditorium was closed in the winter of 2020, just a short time after the new middle school was opened. Officials said acoustic panels were falling off the walls, creating a dangerous environment. School officials and the contractor initially differed on who was the blame for the falling panels. During a previous interview, Messore said it was not clear whether the installation of the wall panels had been done improperly or if the design specifications were flawed.

Last week, Messore said the panels had been reinstalled based on the original design. He said the initial installation had not followed the original design specifications.

“They ended up removing them and then reinstalling them based on the specs,” Messore said. 

The auditorium is outfitted with a balcony, stadium-style seating, and a catwalk for theater productions. It was considered the centerpiece of the new middle school project. The new Barrington Middle School building cost local taxpayers $68.4 million, although the contractor was able to come in about $5 million under budget. 

School officials turned over $4 million of the surplus to the town recently, and have held onto about $800,000 of the surplus. Messore said there are still a few items that need to be addressed. 

Messore said Barrington Middle School Principal Andy Anderson already has some plans for holding events in the reopened auditorium. He said there is also a band concert planned for June that may be held in the auditorium.