Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Ugly Ceiling Gets a Facelift

  • 01/01/16
Upgraded Ceiling

Winning the “Ugly Ceiling Contest” gave Lisha Kill Middle School new ceilings for free, allowing them to improve their classroom in a much needed way, while not impacting their tight budget.

Facilities director Mike O’Neil of the South Colonie School District in Albany, N.Y., is the winner of the Armstrong “Show Us Your Ugly Ceilings” Contest.

The contest, sponsored by Armstrong Ceiling & Wall Systems, offered building owners and facility managers an opportunity to win a grand prize of 1,000 square feet of Ultima ceiling panels by submitting a photo of a stained, dirty, or damaged ceiling in their facility.

O’Neil submitted a photo of a sagging ceiling that was coming apart above a classroom at Lisha Kill Middle School in Albany. After determining that the damaged middle school ceiling was the “ugliest” ceiling entered in the contest, a panel of Armstrong ceiling experts awarded 1,000 square feet of Ultima ceiling panels to O’Neil.

Winning the contest enabled O’Neil to replace the ailing ceiling without dipping into his tight maintenance budget. “We try to replace as many of these old ceiling panels as we can, but we’re on a tight budget,“ he explains. “That’s why I entered the contest — to see if I could win some new ceiling panels.”

The facilities director received many compliments from school officials after the Ultima ceiling was installed. “The new ceiling came out great,” says O’Neil, who was able to quickly replace the old ceiling panels using the existing grid. “It looks beautiful. It made a huge difference in the way that room looks. It’s like night and day.”

In addition to their smooth, clean visual, Ultima ceiling panels feature new Total Acoustics performance, which is the ability to provide both sound absorption and sound blocking in the same panel. To deliver that performance, the panels have a Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) of 0.70, meaning they absorb 70 percent of the sound that strikes them.

www.replacement-ceilings.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Wisconsin District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

    The School District of La Crosse in La Crosse, Wis., recently broke ground on a new elementary school that will consolidate the students and staff of two existing schools, according to local news. Funding for the school comes from a $53-million referendum approved in 2024.

  • Higher Ed is Betting on New Buildings While Quietly Undermining Their Campuses — Here’s Why

    In this climate, the owner’s representative has changed from a delivery-focused advisor to a strategic campus partner. Institutions are increasingly relying on owner’s reps not just to manage, cope, schedule, and budget, but also help evaluate whether a project should proceed at all.

  • University of Oklahoma Announces New Campus Master Plan

    The University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., recently announced that it will soon launch a new, comprehensive Campus Master Plan to guide the campus’ physical development during the next decade, according to a news release.

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.