By Town Crier Staff

The long-awaited home for the Community School of Music and Arts is nearing completion at 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View. The school’s staff plan to move into their new space Dec. 15 and to be ready to receive students there in early January. A grand opening celebration for the public is scheduled for March 6.

Motorists near the cloverleaf on San Antonio Road can keep tabs on the building’s progress as they make their daily commute. Hefty wedges of poured concrete frame the sky above the one-story rectangular entrance to the 25,000-square-foot facility designed by Mark Cavagnero Associates of San Francisco and built by Rudolph & Sletten. Large windows punctuate the glare of the still-white exterior walls. Inside, construction noises from outside and even traffic sounds from San Antonio and Central Expressway are inaudible.

“Our three criteria when we designed this building were safety and accessibility for students, superior acoustics and lots of natural light,” said Evy Schiffman, CSMA’s marketing and communications director, as she led a tour through the light-filled rooms.

Outreach programs in local public and private schools, in addition to art exhibits, festivals, concerts and recitals for the general public enable CSMA to serve 30,000 children and adults annually, Schiffman said. She estimates that the new facility will enable CSMA to serve 25 percent to 30 percent more of the community.

The school’s interim location is 220 View St., Mountain View.