It’s nice to be recognized for a job well done and Sedona Red Rock High School recently received a statewide award for the job done on the Sedona Performing Arts Center.

The Arizona Commercial Real Estate Magazine conducted its sixth annual Real Estate and Development Awards on Feb. 22. The awards recognize the biggest, best and most notable commercial real estate projects in Arizona during 2010. Among the 22 RED Awards was the Sedona Performing Arts Center as the Best Education Project.

“This award means people recognized our center as one of the best in the state. It gives us an opportunity to have pictures in the magazine and get statewide attention. It’s probably one of the prettiest awards I’ve ever seen,” Sedona-Oak Creek School District Interim Superintendent Nancy Alexander said. “The school itself won a construction and architecture award when it was first built in the early 1990s.”

The school district broke ground on the Sedona Performing Arts Center on the Sedona Red Rock High School campus April 16, 2009, and construction began in May 2009. The money for construction came from a $73 million bond district voters approved in fall 2007.

The new 750-seat center opened with the high school play “Cash on Delivery” Nov. 12. The building cost approximately $12.5 million.

Also within the building are rehearsal rooms, classrooms, a 13-by-23-foot projection screen, a space for an art gallery and restrooms. The building was constructed on the site of the old 250-seat auditorium and reused approximately 50 percent of the materials from the old structure. The architect designed the building to use 25 percent less energy and several solar panels installed on the school grounds provide some of energy, according to a report from the general contractor.

The center is also available for community use such as during the Sedona International Film Festival, which occupied the building to screen several films and for special guest appearances during the 2011 festival Feb. 19 through Feb. 27.

Starting Saturday, March 19, Chamber Music Sedona will present The Met: Live in HD, a high definition broadcast of operas as they are being performed in New York City.

SRRHS Principal David Lykins said everyone in Sedona should be proud the building they helped become a reality is receiving statewide recognition with the RED Award.

“We’re teaching our kids to be stewards of the planet by creating a sustainable building. What’s great about this for me as a principal is this building is going to benefit our kids as well as the community. It’s a place for the student body to go at one time,” Lykins said. “It’s also a vehicle to bring the community together. It’s pretty amazing.”

The project manager who represented the school’s interest on the construction of the center, Dave Young who works for an international environmentally-oriented company based in the Netherlands, said the entire project was created paying attention to the environment, the school campus and the community while giving the building a character all it’s own.

“This was not only for the school, but for the community. We recycled or reused in some way 90 percent of the material from the old building. Then we used energy efficient heating and cooling equipment, reflective roofing and natural light through sky lights and windows,” Young said. “At the RED Awards ceremony there were more than 500 people. It was quite an honor to received the award.”

The Arizona Commercial Real Estate Magazine is a bimonthly, statewide publication with a circulation of 26,000.