An official opening ceremony was held June 12 at École Deer Meadow School for the facility's pergola, named Dot's Spot, in honour of Dot Negropontes, the school's first-ever principal and a driving force behind the creation of the Community Learning Campus, a joint facility of Olds College and École Olds High School.
A pergola is a decorative outdoor structure. It features columns or posts that support a roof which consists of a grid of beams or rafters.
Negropontes passed away on May 15, 2017.
Dot's husband, Teddy Negropontes, was among the dignitaries on hand to participate in the ceremony and to check out the pergola for himself. He told reporters it was a very fitting legacy for Dot.
Dot’s Spot is the brainchild of EDMS teacher Lori Clarke’s gardening and landscaping academy. They had planned it and fundraised for it for about three years.
The pergola was constructed in May with help from several businesses, community groups and volunteers, as well as members of the gardening and landscaping academy.
Further details will be provided in a later edition of the Olds Albertan.
