Thursday stakeholders and the community gathered for the cutting of the red ribbon for the beautiful addition to Utah School for the Deaf and the Blind's Salt Lake Campus on 3300 South.  Our team consisting of; Chad Venable, Tyler Shupe, and Ben Saunders worked with David McKay from DFCM and Jacoby Architects on this cutting edge facility.

Jacoby Architects designed and programmed this new Salt Lake Center for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, a new facility providing education, therapy, and services for varying levels of sensory, behavioral, physical, and cognitive disabilities.

The 50,000 square foot facility is home to a diverse list of functions containing: A full size gymnasium with indoor/outdoor performing arts capability; Orientation & mobility area including climbing walls, ball pits, monkey bars, overhead balance swings, ballet bars, and balance beams; Indoor clubhouses containing physical and occupational therapy training; Multi-functional kitchen for vocational and life skills training, children’s dining area, and event concessions; Early childhood classrooms customized for sensory disabilities; Snoezelen room (Sensory/light room); Enclosed courtyard with children’s playground and sensory / exploration gardens; Video conferencing rooms; Board room and advisory council area overlooking gymnasium from above with adjacent roof garden access; And of course, lots and lots of storage!

Providing navigational points of reference and clear way-finding, in and out of the building, became a necessary design concept when developing the form and selecting materials. An overall canvas of light-colored mass is highlighted with high contrast accents of bright illuminated Red features to create landmarks throughout. The building is a bright, fun, playful place for the full range of occupants including children, parents, faculty, staff, administration, researchers, and clinicians alike.

Salt Lake Tribune Article: 

Education center named for late school board member opens in Salt Lake County

Porter and Max Openshaw, two of the surviving children of late state school board member Mark Openshaw, cut the ceremonial red ribbon on Thursday for a new deaf and blind education campus that bears their father's name.

The $16 million, 48,000-square-foot C. Mark Openshaw Education Center is located on the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (USDB) campus on 3300 South, and combines classroom space, a gymnasium and performance stage and administrative offices, USDB Superintendent Joel Coleman said.

"In our Salt Lake area, we were missing a few key elements for our students," he said.

Coleman said the decision to name the building after Openshaw is a tribute to his legacy of service, and his support for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind and its students...

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