“It’s an all-around perfect fit for any school.”
Polished Concrete Floor Decorates Newly Built Performing Arts School
When a tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa, Alabama on April 27th, 2011, the path of destruction included an elementary school. “The community was hit real bad—it pretty much wiped it out. It’s something you don’t want to go through again,” explained Jeff Johnson, Executive Director of Facilities for Tuscaloosa City Schools. “And some of those teachers had worked there twenty years,” he added.
“The school was totally demolished,” said interior designer Deborah Roy, describing the effects of the twister. The storm caused more than $2.4 billion in damage to the area.
Tuscaloosa City Schools responded with a $24 million rebuild project, constructing a new facility on the site of the destroyed school in just under seventeen months. The new school, The Alberta School of Performing Arts, comprises kindergarten through eighth grade with a unique performing arts curriculum. “This project needed to be special to set their school apart,” said Jordan Morris, architect and project manager. “Particularly with the performing arts functions.”
The school board sought to incorporate sustainability into every aspect of the facility, while still constructing an aesthetically attractive school within budget. Growing in popularity within the built environment community, polished concrete flooring offered the perfect combination of features to help achieve this goal.
“Since we don’t have to strip and
wax our floors over the summer,”
said Principal Brenda Parker, “it is really
going to save us a lot of money
every year.”