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A groundbreaking event (literally)

Penland groundbreaking ceremony

Penland School of Crafts had a groundbreaking ceremony for a new dormitory on Thursday, August 25. The three-story, 8,200 square-foot facility will provide flexible housing options for up to 42 students in 19 bedrooms. The building is designed to be energy efficient and accessible, and to provide support for year-round programming at the school.

The schematic design was prepared by Chapel Hill architect Dail Dixon with construction documents and construction oversight handled by Bowers, Ellis, and Watson of Asheville, NC. The building will be built by Davie Construction of Advance, NC.The building will be located downhill from the balcony side of Heaven’s Above.

Construction of this building is being made possible by a loan from the U.S Department of Agriculture Rural Development Community Facilities Loan Program through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Penland groundbreaking

Left to right: Pamela Hysong, USDA; Jean McLaughlin, Penland director; Marvin Hutchison, USDA; Scott Klein, Penland facilities director; Laura Taft Paulsen, Penland trustee; Mike Watson, Bowers, Ellis and Watson; Carl Carney, Davie Construction; Rob Pulleyn, Penland trustee; Blair Bricken, Bowers, Ellis and Watson; Clay Mooney, landscape architect.