> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Barnum Hall’s opening is music to school officials’ ears - URL: https://www.smdp.com/barnum-halls-opening-is-music-to-school-officials-ears/ - Published: 2002-12-18T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T01:08:01.000Z - Author: Andrew Fixmer - Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import *$8M five-year restoration project still unfinished* Santa Monica may now have what some people would consider its own Carnegie Hall. After being closed for five years for a restoration project that cost more than $8 million, Santa Monica High School’s Barnum Hall officially opened on Tuesday, when the school’s symphony orchestra played its winter concert there. “It’s been sort of a bumpy road,” said school superintendent John Deasy, “but we’re finally near the end and the result is absolutely beautiful.” The restoration of Barnum Hall has raised eyebrows in the community because it was only supposed to take two to three years to complete and cost about $3 million, said Jean Sedillos, a Restore Barnum Hall veteran who has been working on the project for nearly a decade. But the project ran into barriers during construction. Architectural plans for the theater didn’t accurately describe what construction workers would find behind walls or under floors, Sedillos said. “It always seemed like something was going wrong,” she said. “But when you’re working with older buildings like this, things tend to happen unexpectedly.” Practice rooms and storage space also was added to the area directly behind the stage, adding about $1 million to the final cost of construction. Another set back occurred in April 2001 when the school district’s construction manager fired the contractor for faulty work. Another contractor wasn’t found for six months, further delaying the opening. About $6 million of the money used for the restoration came from Prop X bond money, which was passed by voters to help modernize school campuses across the state. The Santa Monica City Council donated $1.15 million and a group called Restore Barnum Hall raised another $1 million in money and supplies. The money raised by Restore Barnum Hall paid for many aspects of the restoration that would otherwise have been cut from the project. “It was a real community effort,” Sedillos said. “There isn’t another community around here with anything really close to this. Santa Monica should be very proud.” But even as proud parents and music boosters crowded Barnum Halls new atrium Tuesday evening, work is still far from complete. Acoustic dampers need to be installed along the walls, broken Victorian-era chairs fill the auditorium’s top floor mezzanine because money ran out for replacements, and an antique Wurlitzer pipe organ still needs to be installed. The hall won’t be available to the public until some minor improvements are finished during the summer, officials said. While funding for the acoustic improvements already has been secured, Sedillos estimates another $50,000 is needed for the seats and about $150,000 will be needed to install the pipe organ. 2D0,“We’re looking into what grant money is available and we’re going to try to raise money from our supporters,” Sedillos said. “But like everyone else who relies on fundraising, we have been tremendously impacted by Sept. 11\. So we’ll have to see what’s available and work within that.” But the finished product may actually be worth the added wait and increased cost, some have said. Style abounds in the building, from the main atrium which spots a tile mosaic by famed local artist Stanton MacDonald-Wright to the detailed grille work that flanks each side of the stage. The Art-Deco flavor of the architecture extends to the carpet and hand railings, which are curved subtly and leave few hard angles in the building. First opened in 1937, Barnum Hall was built by the Works Progress Administration during the depths of the Great Depression. Originally the hall served both the high school and the city as an auditorium. Even back then the project fell victim to countless delays and cost over-runs. Many of the auditorium’s original seats would not have been installed if a local theater going out business hadn’t donated the now crumbling Victorian chairs. Other features, such as the grille work that now flanks the stage, had been cut from the original project to save money. District officials decided not to paint an area off the left-hand side of the stage, where actors from the school’s drama club have peppered the room with their graffiti. The room contains a few notable names, such as Emilio Estevez who graduated from Samohi in 1980. “It’s exciting to have gotten this far,” Sedillos said. “I wish it were the grand opening for the entire community and everything was done. But at least now the students will be able to use it.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/121802-02_01.jpg) (Photo: Andy Fixmer/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 18, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/121802.pdf?ref=smdp.com)