By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
WAVERLY — Waverly is about ready to unveil its new gym with four basketball games on Jan. 4, and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Eric Knolles is excited for everyone to see the finished project.
"When you walk into our new gymnasium for a basketball game or a wrestling match, I think it's going to catch your eye," said Knolles with a smile.
The games on Jan. 4 will be the culmination of a project that began in the first week of March, and is a major upgrade for the athletic programs at Waverly High School.
"In the athletic piece of this program, the main focus is obviously the gymnasium," said Knolles.
"The gym is now 180 feet long," he noted. "It has three cross courts, one large regulation court, and it also encompasses a large three-lane indoor running / walking track.
"At the floor level, there is also a brand-new fitness center, which is connected by windows to the pool area," continued Knolles. "In that complex, where the locker rooms use to be, there are four 'team rooms' for gymnasium events, and two team rooms for swimming events.
"We also have a new wrestling room, which has been enlarged by taking in the room next to it. It is now about 75 feet long. We're able to put two wrestling mats in there.
"We're trying to make a fitness center that has something for everyone," added Knolles. "The community will also have access to all of it."
With the addition of the walking track, the position of basketball court shifted 10 feet to the north, which won't leave room for the bleachers on that side of the floor to be pulled out for a game.
"For a wrestling match, with all the bleachers out, I think we'll be able to seat about 1,600," said Knolles.
"For a basketball game, where the (north) side bleachers stay in, we're closer to 900, but we also have the track area for seating where you're looking right down at the floor," he noted.
There are also small fixed bleachers under the bucket neat the main entrance to the gym, and portable bleachers that can be placed behind the basket at the west end of the floor.
Knolles said in order to install the track, and be in accordance with state regulations, the basketball court had to be moved.
"We had to offset the court for the walking track.
"We had to stay in the foot print (of the gym), we couldn't make it any bigger," said Knolles. "When we put the track in, we had to take 10 feet from both sides of the floor, resulting in the basketball court needing to be moved."
Another change was the raising of the roof at the west end of the gym.
"The ceiling at the west end of the gym was raised to 28 feet, which is a volleyball specific height, to meet the 23 feet requirement," said Knolles. "The ceiling will definitely not come into play during a (volleyball) match as much as it did in the old gym."
The gym can be split into two or three sections by using curtains that slide across the gym, which increases efficiency for usage when it comes to physical education classes throughout the school day.
"The floor is also lined for every physical education activity our physical ed department could think of," said Knolles.
"You don't really see them looking down onto the floor from the stands. What they do with colors these days is amazing," noted Knolles. "You would never know the floor is marked until you're standing on top of it.
"We will have more room phys ed classes, and more gym space for practices. It's a win-win," added Knolles.
The gym will open with a JV-varsity girls and JV-varsity boys quadruple-header against Sidney on Jan. 4.
"The girls will play the first game, which is kind of cool," said Knolles. "I'm excited for everyone to see our new facilities."
So, there is no doubt the new gym will be ready Jan. 4?
"I always have doubts," laughed Knowles. "Until I own it, I have doubts.
"Right now, the timeline has us playing on that court," he noted. "Everyone is pushing — working weekends, and 12-hour shifts — to get it done.
"The 1967 basketball team didn't step on to the new high school court until they were shooting warm-up on the night of the first game, and we may be looking at the same thing.
"We're scheduled to hit (the Jan. 4 deadline), and I've spoken with everyone who is in charge of making that happen, and they think they will hit it," Knolles added.
The biggest surprise for Knolles in the entire project is the fact it only took nine months.
"The length of time in which it was done is surprising," he said. "LaChase Construction and Streeter Building & Construction were phenomenal.
"At any given time, we had 65 guys here working, there were people all over.
"However, I would recommend doing it in two years and not nine months," laughed Knolles. "That's my recommendation to anyone else."
———————
The photos were taken on Dec. 20. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
