With the flourish of a king’s court, the Albion Middle School Knights trumpeted the completion of their newly refurbished school.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by about 150 Albion students, parents, teachers and patrons, Canyons District on Aug. 16, 2012 heralded the new era for Albion, which is opening this year after a near-total renovation.
Crews have worked for a little more than a year on the middle school’s makeover, which includes a new entryway, parking lot and landscaping. Inside, students and teachers are sure to enjoy new classrooms; a spacious commons area; natural light throughout the building, especially the art rooms; air conditioning; new band, dance and choral rooms; an upgraded media center; a refurbished gymnasium and auditorium, and an expanded area for the kitchen and cafeteria.
“I have no doubt that many of you wondered if this day would actually come,” Kevin Cromar, the member of the Canyons Board of Education who represents the neighborhoods surrounding the school, said to the audience at the ribbon-cutting event. “But it’s here, and Canyons District is proud to announce that it is holding true to its promise to give you a new and improved Albion Middle School.
Albion is the first middle school renovation project to be completed by Canyons District. The renovation was made possible by a $250 million bond that voters approved in 2010.
Cromar said that passage of the bond allowed CSD to start and exciting and ambitious construction and renovation schedule. This year, Canyons is opening two renovated and new schools Albion and Midvale Elementary and three others are currently under construction.
“On behalf of the Canyons Board of Education, I express our thanks and appreciation for working with us to provide great schools for our children,” said Cromar, who also thanked the City of Cottonwood Heights for its hospitality. The Albion school community attended classes in the old Cottonwood Heights Elementary School last year while the middle school at 2755 E. Newcastle Dr. was being gutted and rebuilt.
“From the first days of our school district, when we’ve asked our parents, students and employees what they would like to see in Canyons District, we heard one thing loud and clear,” Canyons Superintendent Dave Doty said. “Our communities wanted new and renovated schools. They wanted schools that were easily accessible, aesthetically pleasing, wired for the high-tech demands of a 21st century education and energy efficient. As we planned to respond to this request from our patrons, we reached out to engage our public every step of the way.”
Principal Joanne Ackerman, who joined Cromar and Doty in cutting the ribbon at the ceremony, thanked contractors Hogan and Associates and architectural firm FFKR for the work they put into designing and building the school. As a token of the school’s appreciation, she presented both companies with a statue of an Albion knight.
“It’s so hard to believe that it’s been just a little more than a year since the construction crews rolled into our school,” she said. “As we watched them gut the school, there were times I wondered if they’d ever be able to put the pieces back together. As you’ll see when you go in and see the building, they took a finite space and gave us infinite educational possibilities.”
The newly renovated Albion welcomes students back to school on Aug. 27, 2012. Students who attended the event were given pieces of the ribbon to keep as mementos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buUTakCmnbk
