Mike O’Neil, facilities director of the South Colonie School District in Albany, New York, is the winner of Armstrong Ceiling & Wall Systems’ ‘Show Us Your Ugly Ceilings’ contest.

Armstrong’s contest offered building owners and facility managers an opportunity to win the grand prize of 1,000 square feet of Ultima ceiling panels after submitting a photo of a stained, dirty or damaged ceiling in their facility. The grand prize was awarded to O’Neil for his photo, taken in a classroom at Lisha Kill Middle School in Albany, where O’Neil took a photo of a sagging ceiling that was coming apart.

Winning the ‘Ugly Ceilings’ contest allowed O’Neil to replace the sagging ceiling without having to use some of his tight maintenance budget. “We try to replace as many of these old ceiling panels as we can, but we’re on a tight budget,” he said, in a press release. “That’s why I entered the contest – to see if I could win some new ceiling panels.”

School officials were impressed after the new ceiling panels were installed using the existing grid. “The new ceiling came out great,” he added. “It looks beautiful. It made a huge difference in the way that room looks. It’s like night and day.”