Liberty Memorial Central Middle School [LMCMS] celebrated its 100th anniversary of the building on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. The building was originally a high school constructed as a WWI memorial, and completed in 1923, but was later changed to a junior high school in 1954. It wasn’t until 2011 that it officially became a middle school.

“This is really a celebration for all of Lawrence,” Emily Mulligan, member of the volunteer planning committee said. “Whether people attended school or are related to somebody who attended school, worked there or not, or if they’re just a community member that would like to see the building. This [was] the opportunity to do that.”

The event was held at LMCMS with a program to re-dedicate and celebrate the memorial. Ted Juneau, former principal at LMCMS and current student resources staff member at Free State, emceed the event.

“It really is a memorial. It’s something that I think the people that have gone to Central and understand the history of Central really don’t want people to forget,” Juneau said.

During the event, there was an unveiling of a new plaque celebrating LMCMS’s 100th anniversary. On the plaque, it showed a commemoration of the school, including every name change to the school since 1923.

Both Central’s Excalibur choir and the local chapter of the New Horizons band performed during the ceremony. For former choir director Kevin Hart, being able to hear All That They Had Gave, the song he helped commission during his time at LMCMS, was really meaningful to him.

“It was amazing, I loved it. It’s strange to me that the song was written while I was here,” Hart said. “I had it commissioned, and to know that they sing it every year since then [was] really special.”

An open house displaying memorabilia, yearbooks and an open tour of the building led by current students was available after the ceremony. Carol Birnbaum, former science teacher, enjoyed being back to admire everything.

“I’ve been walking around trying to remember everything,” Birnbaum said. “It definitely still holds a lot of memories.”

Noelle Clements, a member of the LMCMS class of 2010, along with many others showed gratitude towards their time at the school and the opportunities it had given them.

“The school did a lot more for this community and has provided a lot more for this community than people realize,” Clements said. “Yes, it is an old school, and I think that people are kind of nervous about it because it’s older; but, there’s also a lot of diversity and creativity here.”