The Mariner Theater at Homer High School is closed until further notice after a rigging failure dropped equipment onto the stage last month.
School officials discovered the damage on Tuesday, Dec. 16. Principal Eric Peterson said a number of the theater’s acoustic shells fell from the rigging above the stage and clipped a grand piano. The incident happened just one day after a middle school concert in the space.
Peterson said the school is lucky no one was in the theater at the time.
"I can tell you that it would have, it would have done some serious damage to an individual that was standing underneath them, you know," Peterson said.
An initial inspection found a bent pipe that holds equipment in place and minor damage to the stage floor.
The theater hosts school performances and is used year-round by several community arts groups including Homer Nutcracker Productions and the Homer Council on the Arts. The closure forced music programs to relocate. Choir director Kyle Schneider moved the Candlelight Carols and Desserts concert to the school commons while basketball practice happened next door.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District hired the rigging company Stagecraft to do a professional inspection. That work is scheduled for Jan. 19 through Jan. 22.
Peterson said Superintendent Clayton Holland plans to use the visit as a training opportunity for community user groups to "look at what is the proper use for the rigging system."
While the reopening date depends on the inspection, Peterson said his priority is student productions like Schneider’s choir program.
"I know he's got an awesome musical planned for the spring, and it's my goal to make sure that that's on the theater stage," Peterson said.
The results of the inspection will guide the next steps for the space and its users.
