Central Elementary School Theater
Central Elementary School is home to one of only two dedicated theatre spaces within the 15-school New Jersey Orange Public Schools district. Despite its historic charm, the theater had fallen out of regular use due to outdated technology and unreliable infrastructure. With schools, community organizations, and touring groups all seeking space, revitalizing this theater was vital to meeting instructional, cultural, and rental purposes.
The school needed a solution that would be reliable, flexible, and accessible to a variety of users, while protecting the room’s architectural character. The theatre’s charm comes from its classic lines, warm tones, and historically significant detailing. Loudspeakers, cabling runs, and control points needed to disappear into that framework rather than draw attention away from it.
PureTek, the chosen integrators for the project, selected slim-profile white loudspeakers from K-array’s KGEAR line. Eight GF162W I line array columns served as the primary system, and four ultra compact GF82W I columns for additional coverage. The light footprint and low-profile aesthetic allowed the speakers to disappear into the architecture. To complete the system, two KGEAR GU210W subwoofers were installed, delivering precise bass response with high power and efficiency for both spoken word and music-driven performances. A single K-array Kommnader-KA28 amplifier supplies DSP, routing, and control.
Ease of use is as important as sound quality. The entire audio system was integrated into unRAVL, Pure Teks’s unified control platform for combining lighting, audio, video, rigging, and other performance systems into a single intuitive interface designed specifically for education and performance environments. With teachers, administrators, and community renters cycling through the theatre, the district needed a control solution that didn’t require technical training.
"This project was about honoring a historic theater while giving it new life. K-array’s speakers disappear into the architecture, allowing the space to look exactly as it should while sounding amazing. From students and school assemblies to visiting performers, the system supports every use case beautifully. The outcome exceeded expectations, and it’s difficult to imagine achieving the same result without K-array as a partner." - Dan Litvin, President/Co-Founder, PureTek Group
As with most public school projects, the budget played an important role. The district required a system that could not only handle performances but also stay within capital funding limits. The KGEAR line offered the exact blend of performance, reliability, and value needed, built for long-term institutional use.
Through thoughtful system design, discreet product selection, and intuitive control, the historic Central Elementary School theatre has been revived, not reinvented, and it’s ready for the next generation of students, educators, and audiences.
