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Sited at the top of a hill over the broad valley of the Passumpsic River, St. Johnsbury Academy is a community landmark visible for miles around. In the 1970’s, a new gym was built for the campus and a large parking lot installed in the center of the gym/field house court. Over 25 years the parking lot deteriorated into paved eyesore, loved for its parking spaces but reviled for its ugliness. ORW worked with St. Johnsbury Academy to develop a plan for a new Fine Arts Center to be located adjacent to the field house and gym. Initial designs attempted to retain and redress the parking area, but in a moment of inspiration, the project team decided that the parking lot had to go. Alternative sites for parking were considered, and a large area behind the gym was selected to relocate 120 student parking spaces, so that the space in front could be made into a campus green. The new green was also anchored on the north end by the recently renovated Streeter Hall and campus amphitheater. The St. Johnsbury Academy Campus Green was awarded a Vermont Public Space Award Honorable Mention (2005).
Architect: Black River Design Architects
