New Pia Center in Hebb Hall gets rave reviews

Opening this school year the PIA center in Heb Hall has been the newest campus renovation. Prior to the renovation, the building was in bad shape and the school did not have the money to renovate it, until Mike and Nancy Pia came forward and covered all of the costs for the new building, without giving the team a precise budget.

“We did not get an actual budget, but I put a budget together as to what I thought it would cost, and they offered to pay for all of it,” said Facilities Manager Kevin Needham.

Needham and the rest of the Building and Grounds team came up with a plan for the renovation and built the building in about six months with the help of other contractors and the Pias.

Needham says Nancy Pia was a part of the new building inspiration.

“Nancy Pia is really big into art and she was a part of our inspiration for what the new classrooms would look like.”

The old building was used by the middle and lower school art classes with the top floor being for storage. The new renovation is also used by the art classes with the addition of French language classes for the top floor.

The new layout of the building is very appealing to the art classes. Students like the open floor plan, and how much natural light there is.

“I like how there are more windows and that it is more open,” said eighth-grader Arabella Marcinko.

The Sanford community has benefited from the new PIA center by giving kids a more open and neat workspace, and a new spot for the French classes. The renovation exceeded the teachers and the students’ expectations.

“It far exceeded expectations, the teachers were shocked coming back into the building. What a transformation it was from what it used to be,” said Needham.

The Sanford community has helped make a better work environment for the students and continues to increase the wellness of the students’ learning space. The new building gives them the tools and resources that they need to improve their academic and artistic performances.