According to a report in the LA Times, Dr. Dre has pledged to donate $10 million to help build a performing arts center at the new Compton High School in his hometown neighborhood of Compton, Los Angeles. Compton High School students as well as members of the community will have access to the new performing arts center. It will feature state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for digital media production, as well as a 1,200-seat theater. “My goal is to provide kids with the kind of tools and learning they deserve,” Dre said in a statement, “The performing arts center will be a place for young people to be creative in a way that will help further their education and positively define their future.”
Those involved with the Compton school board are overjoyed with the hip hop mogul’s involvement and pledge for the new performing arts center. “The support that Dre has shown to Compton over the years is unwavering and we are so excited that we will now be home to one of the greatest performing arts centers in the country,” said Satra Zurita, president of Compton Unified’s governing board of trustees, to the LA Times. Micah Ali, vice chairman of the district’s board of education, said the new high school will be the most modern public school complex ever built. “We are looking forward to blending both [Dre’s] vision and that of the district to provide opportunities for individuals to both explore and apply their creativity in the arts,” says Darin Brawley, Compton Unified superintendent.
The hip-hop mogul and Compton native will be directly involved in raising the remaining funds needed to complete the center, which is expected to break ground by 2020. Dre’s donation to the new Compton High School comes a few years after he promised to donate all the royalties from his last album, Compton, to fund new performing arts and entertainment facility in the city.
[h/t – LA Times]