PILOT MOUNTAIN — Exclamations of wonder frequently echoed through the halls of Pilot Mountain Middle School on Monday night when community members toured the facility.

“The most common comment when they walk in the door is ‘wow,’” said Neil Atkins, principal of the school.

The school held an open house for the community from 6 to 7:30 p.m. People were able to walk through the school at their leisure, talking to teachers and staff members who were stationed throughout the school.

“People keep talking about how beautiful it is,” said Lorrie Sawyers, assistant principal of the school.

“It takes your breath away,” said Pat Roberts. She used to be a teacher in the media center at the old Pilot Mountain Middle School.

“I’ve been driving by it since it was a hole in the ground,” said Roberts, so she decided to see the finished product.

She was most excited to see the media center, which she described as “enormous.”

“The media center — that’s where my heart is,” Roberts remarked.

The media center was also Natalie Jennings’ favorite part of the building. Natalie is 6, and she will attend the school when she reaches middle-school age. Her father, Wendell Jennings, is a teacher at the school. Natalie came with her mother and grandmother to tour the school during the open house.

Derena Roberts, Natalie’s grandmother, said the new school was beautiful. “I couldn’t wait to see it,” she said.

She especially loved the dining room. She said, “I love it. The way it overlooks the gym, it gives it a bigger appearance.”

Atkins said the most popular areas of the school for students are the media center and the dining area, which overlooks the gym.

In the first 45 minutes, the school had about 50 to 75 people show up for the open house. Atkins was expecting a hundred or more to come Monday night. He said many community members actually toured the school on student orientation night in August, but they wanted to give an official invitation to the community to tour the new facility.

“We just feel like a school is for a whole community, not just students and teachers,” said Atkins.

Sawyers said, “I think our community is so excited to see a school like this in our community. We’ve never had something like this.”

Tilford Brunner from Pilot Mountain has been driving by the site for quite a while. In the beginning, he couldn’t envision what a school would look like on the site. He started taking pictures of the building process whenever he drove by. He decided Monday that it was time to see what the finished school looked like from the inside.

“It’s very nice,” said Brunner. “Everything I’ve seen so far is good.”

Jimmy Jones’ wife works at the school, and he invited Brunner to come to the open house. He loves the life skills room, which has a high-tech stove. He also loves the location of the school.

“It’s amazing how the building fits the scenery,” Jones remarked.

Richard Hauser from Westfield was a teacher at the old Pilot Mountain Middle School for many years. He said the new building was like a “whole different world.”

“It’s like putting on new shoes when you’ve been wearing brogans,” Hauser said.

Around 540 students attend the new school, which opened for the first time this fall. The old Pilot Mountain Middle School site has been converted to Pilot Mountain Elementary School.

“I just think it’s outstanding in every way possible,” Atkins remarked.

Contact Meghann Evans at mevans@mtairynews.com or 719-1952.