New music room almost ready as PACI continues to renovate its art department

The Prince Albert Collegiate Institute (PACI) is nearing the end of a serendipitous four-year-project to renovate its arts spaces.

The project began in 2013, when dance teacher Alicia Wotherspoon made it her goal to bring a dance studio to the school. From there, with the support of the Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division and a generous benefactor, PACI has renovated its drama and visual arts departments. The final piece — a new music room — is projected to be complete by the end of the month.

“That room really needed to be renovated. The last renovation happened many decades ago so there was lots of old carpeting that needed to be taken out. It needed a definite refresh,” music teacher and vice-principal Leanne Tretiak said.

The new music room will include a recording studio which Tretiak hopes students will use to record their original compositions and then reach a wide audience by sharing their work on social media. She said students are making use of the recent refurbishments in the arts department.

“We have these beautiful facilities that exist here,” she said.

“When our dance studio was created, at that time we were the only high school in all of Saskatchewan that had a true dance studio with real studio mirrors and a sprung wood floor.”

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