In 2003 the Mealey Mountain Collegiate School was opened. The school has 27 classrooms and provides specialized facilities not previously available in the area. For example, this school has a biology lab, arts room, fabrication lab, home economics classroom etc. When opened, however, the school did not have a performing arts theatre which the town desperately wanted.

After consistent lobbying, in 2009, the Lawrence O’Brien Arts Centre was added onto the back of the school. The addition contains a 409 person theatre which is run by the community and has become a staple for performing arts in the area.

Both the original building and addition were designed with aspects like pitched and mansard roofs to bring down the scale of the building and give it a more ‘home-like’ feel.