Anchorage highschool seniors will have a good time commencement on the Alaska Airways Middle this yr whereas Sullivan Area stays in use as a mass homeless shelter.
Previous to the COVID-19 pandemic, seniors graduated at Sullivan Area, a practice that went again many years. The world has been used as a mass care homeless shelter since 2020, though metropolis officers and others are engaged on a plan to transition the Sullivan away from that use this summer season.
The swap means college students might be restricted to 6 tickets per graduating senior.
“We’ve all the time preferred this venue as a result of it’s actually well-situated for internet hosting a commencement,” mentioned district secondary director Marty Lang on a tour via the Alaska Airways Middle on Monday. “The limitation of the seats in all probability would have stored us on the Sullivan Area had we not been pressured to search for a distinct possibility.”
The district toured the Alaska Airways Middle in 2014 however opted to not use it for commencement as a result of spectator numbers can be capped, he mentioned.
Over the previous two years, ASD commencement has regarded completely different as a result of pandemic. In 2020, the district didn’t have any giant ceremonies and as a substitute had drive-by graduations, whereas in 2021, the district held outside ceremonies at native highschool sports activities fields.
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However even final yr, seating was restricted and different from college to highschool. And it was labor-intensive transferring tools, whereas the climate was an X-factor, Lang mentioned.
“It is a stunning venue for commencement,” Lang mentioned of the Alaska Airways Middle.
He mentioned that six tickets could also be constraining for some households, so principals have some discretionary tickets to assist households out. The district can also be streaming graduations for many who can not attend in-person, and households not utilizing all of their tickets could give theirs to others.
He mentioned a problem of the house is that whereas it will possibly seat 5,000 folks, the ground seats can’t be used because of house wanted for the scholars, orchestra, school and stage. The reduces the sector’s capability. One other space might be blocked off for the reason that view might be obscured. All instructed, seating might be lowered to 2,200.
“Our giant faculties will certainly come fairly near maxing that out,” Lang mentioned.