Livingston Academy will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its current campus this week.
Principal Richard Melton said the school held its original ribbon cutting on July 4, 1976. Melton said the milestone serves as a significant moment for the community to reflect on the history of the building and the campus.
“We are not the newest facility around anymore, but we’re still so proud of it when people come onto campus they they talk about how pretty the campus is and it just means a lot to us, you know, those of us who’ve worked hard for so long to take care of it and it’s just a really important part of the the community and Livingston, the City of Livingston in general,” Melton said.
Melton said the 50-year celebration is intended to bring the community together to support the current generation of students. Melton said the event will take place Thursday evening in conjunction with the orientation for incoming freshmen.
“We try to think of the good things and the the good far outweighs the negative anyway,” Melton said. “So this is a good chance to to really come together and and make it obvious that we’re all here for one reason, that’s to work together for our students, our young people.”
Melton said the school was originally founded in 1909 and celebrated its centennial 15 years ago. Melton said the campus has undergone several changes since the 1976 opening, including the addition of a new wing in 2000 and the completion of the Lead Career Center.
“Now it’s an old building, but it’s been really taken care of by everyone who’s been here for so many years and it’s just a lot of history here, you know, there’s a lot of community pride in this school academically and as far as sports and just using it for, as you know, schools are sort of a community hub,” Melton said.
Melton said the ongoing gym reconstruction recently uncovered the original rubber floor that was installed when the building opened. Melton said the school is inviting former athletes to visit the campus and sign that original floor as part of a time capsule before a new wooden floor is installed.
“People kind of lose touch as time goes by and and it’s always great to see people just, you know, fellowship and get together and talk about and reminisce about old times,” Melton said. “And so people haven’t seen this original rubber floor since it was covered in the late 80s.”
Melton said the rubber floor was covered by wood in the mid-1980s, at which time coaches placed photographs underneath the surface. Melton said those items were recovered when the floor was recently removed and will be returned to the new time capsule.
“Just those memories that they have, you know, just to get to be there in person again,” Melton said. “You can see things online and pictures and stuff like that, but to be there and just, you know, schools have a a sight and and things that people recognize and the way the sounds of the building, the way doors closed and, you know, the old rubber floors had a an odor to them too.”
