Portage Collegiate's cosmetology lab re-opened today, after a couple of years of renovations.

A large crowd was on hand for the ribbon cutting, and Hairstyling Instructor Brenda Hinch calls it super exciting.

Brenda Hinch"Ever since I took over the program, and I've been here, it was my dream job," she says. "And to have community support, and all these people here means the world. We have, basically, a state of the art facility now. This lab has turned out absolutely beautiful, and it was really important because hairstyling is such a growing profession, and to stay current with what's happening out in the industry, I need to be doing here."

Tori Nabess is a 17 year old student, and is excited by what the new facility brings to the program.

"I think that it's going to give us an opportunity to have a more professional setting, and be able to have more clients in," she says. "And we have more

Tori Nabessspace, and we have higher end products now, so we're able to see what it will be like out in the real world."

Mayor Irvine Ferris feels it gives students huge opportunities.

"It's amazing," he says. "It's been a number of years since I've been in here, and the changes they've made are just cutting edge. And certainly for high school students in Portage, it gives them another to pursue. I think it's tremendous, a really good investment the School Board has made here in Portage."

Here are more pictures.