Ugly Ceiling Gets a Facelift

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

  • Can AI Help Build Stronger Communities in Student Housing?

    Student housing success is shifting from operational performance to student experience, with belonging now at the center. A recent 2025 report underscores a growing emphasis on student well-being, community, and engagement, signaling that expectations now extend beyond logistics to ensure students feel supported in their living environments. AI is enabling that shift by reducing administrative workload and giving teams more time to focus on meaningful student engagement.

  • Johns Hopkins Starts Construction on New Residence Hall, Dining Facility

    The Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., recently began construction on a new residence hall and dining facility, according to university news. The work involves demolishing the existing Alumni Memorial Residence Hall I, which was built in 1923, to make room for the new facility.

  • UT-San Antonio Begins Residence Hall Renovations

    The University of Texas at San Antonio recently began a $6-million renovation project to one of its residence halls, according to a news release. Originally completed in 1986, Chisolm Hall measures in at 120,860 square feet and is the oldest and largest residence hall on campus.

  • St. John Fisher University

    Classroom Revitalization – Basil Hall Room 216

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. St. John Fisher University's Basil Hall Room 216 Classroom Revitalization has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of Spaces.