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Dr. Dre helps show “California Love” to Compton High School!
Compton High School’s performing arts center, which is being built with the support of music mogul and Compton native Dr. Dre, is one step closer to becoming a reality.
The Compton native, who gave $10 million to the project, attended a groundbreaking ceremony with city and school officials to mark the beginning of the center’s construction.
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“When I was approached about funding a performing arts center that would provide an arts and technological education to students and be accessible for the community at large, I was all in,” said the 57-year-old stated.
He added: “I wanted to give the young people of Compton something I never had.”
A 1,200-seat theater will be part of the facility, which will be a space for young people to be creative to help them pursue their education and positively define their future.
The 126-year-old school’s new campus will include a new academic building that can accommodate 1,800 students with room for 450 more, a new gym, an aquatics facility, a football stadium, and a track. The district’s 2015 bond measure covers the remaining project costs.
According to the Compton Unified School District, the facility will be known as the “Andre ‘Dr. Dre’ Young Performing Arts Center.”
“I was an artistic kid in school with no outlet for it,” the Compton native said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
He continued.
“I knew I had something special to offer to the world, but with nothing to support my gift, schools left me feeling unseen.”
Even though he no longer resides in Compton, Dr. Dre has spoken extensively about what his hometown means to him.
The rap group N.W.A., whose debut album is titled “Straight Outta Compton,” was founded in the town by Dr. Dre and others. He had committed to donating profits from his 2015 album “Compton” to the performing arts facility.
Photo by: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
“This city is special, and young people living in it are special,” the music mogul said at the ceremony.
At the ceremony, Compton High School’s principal, Rigoberto Roman, stated, “This new campus that will be erected, it will be erected upon deep roots and outstanding accomplishments that have been established over decades.”
Roman added, “Let us embrace this change for the sake of our future and our children’s future. This is a type of change to celebrate.”
The new campus is expected to open in the first half of 2025.
