As plans for the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School’s (MVRHS) $333.5 million building project move forward, the feasibility of next summer’s 25th annual African American Film Festival (AAFF) remains unknown.
The festival, which traditionally takes place in the school’s Performing Arts Center (PAC) during a nine-day period in August, attracts thousands of visitors and high-profile Black celebrities to the Island every year. But due to planned construction of the renovation and addition project, the proposed dates of the festival haven’t been approved to take place at the PAC yet. And organizers of the AAFF might not get an answer for a while.
At a MVRHS building committee meeting last Tuesday, AAFF cofounder Stephanie Tavares-Rance underscored the urgency of getting an answer about the festival’s status so she can finalize the dates.
“We’re just in a precarious predicament right now,” Tavares-Rance said. “We’e the reason August is August, and I’ve got all of these businesses and hotels stressed, and I can’t say anything because I don’t know what to say to them. They are really banking on this happening, so they can meet their bottom line. We want that to happen for the Island because we’re all about the give back.”
MVRHS committee member Amy Houghton told Rance that the building committee can’t confirm the dates of July 30 to August 7 yet.
“Until we have the approval from the Town of Oak Bluffs and from the building professionals and a sufficient understanding that the cost of the project would not be increased as a result of doing anything beyond what we had anticipated, I don’t think that we’re in a position to say that it’s absolutely a go-ahead for the dates that you just mentioned,” she said.
The decision on whether the PAC, the Island’s largest indoor auditorium, can host events next summer must be made by the school committee after they receive a recommendation from the building committee.
Finalized design and phasing plans for the building will be presented to the school committee for approval in mid-December, Houghton told The Times. If approved, the plans will be sent to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for final approval.
During the meeting, the committee weighed different options concerning the construction timeline for the building’s new addition, which will house the school’s main entrance, administrative offices, and cafeteria. The first option involves a targeted demolition in July 2027 that would impact four existing classrooms and the math department’s office. The alternative would involve waiting until the summer of 2029 before beginning construction.
Evan Moore, the project executive for construction management firm W.T. Rich, presented these options. He explained that he preferred the first option in order to ensure that the new addition is completed on-schedule.
“The ultimate goal is not to impact the students during the course of the construction … but I would say that [the first option] would be our preferred approach just because … the fact that we do not see a way to construct that main entrance in that [administrative] corridor and have it complete for the fall of 2029,” Moore said.
Bryan Lombardi, MVRHS principal, echoed Moore’s stance.
“They’re more than just [administrative] offices. That’s our safety and security. That’s our intercom system. That’s where everything happens,” Lombardi said. “I would rather deal with the ripple effects and the headaches and the unknowns of the first option versus the second one.”
The MVRHS Building Committee meets again on Oct. 27.
