Workers prepare the new gym at Slippery Rock for placement of the floor surface. Students will get their first glimpse of the facility on March 1 when that portion of the school is reopened. At the same time, two classrooms, two locker rooms, a fitness room and a training room will open.

SLIPPERY ROCK — Students will begin to get a glimpse of the new gymnasium project starting March 1.

That's when the new portion of the school will be ready for partial occupancy, with two classrooms, two locker rooms, a fitness room and training rooms open, according to Pat Connelly, facilities director for the Slippery Rock School District.

These rooms will take up the slack when the basement is closed for renovations in March, while locker rooms and training and fitness rooms there will be renovated.

Students, staff and visitors will continue to use the temporary rear entrance to the school while the project is completed. This means they will walk past the new main entrance, which has large windows and was moved toward the new gym instead of in front of the auditorium area.

Crews continue work on the lobby, concession stand and restrooms. Those restrooms will also open to the outside, allowing use by football fans and other outdoor sports, Connelly said. Work on installing the gym floor will begin soon.

The $6.5 million project, which began last spring, includes renovations inside the high school. Most of that work will be done this summer, with a completion date scheduled for August.

About $500,000 of these miscellaneous renovations include air conditioning repair, updates to the science laboratories, renovations to the CAD facility, and electrical upgrades.

The 1,000-seat gym, which will replace the current 500-seat facility, will allow the school to host bigger events and hold more team practices. Those practices have been held later on school nights as schedules conflicted at the high school and middle school gymnasiums.

The new gymnasium will have more room for basketball games as well as automatic volleyball supports which lower from the ceiling.

"It saves storage space and the nets don't get tangled," said Connelly.

Five new trophy showcases line the outside of the gym and a student mosaic will be made in the new lobby.

Brandi Elford, art teacher, said her art classes will work on the 4 foot by 8 foot mosaic starting next week. The project will display a rocket launched into space.

The idea for the mosaic came from students who wanted to leave their mark on the gym project, Elford said.

Although the mosaic involves 26,000 pieces of tile and intricate work, it should be done in about three weeks, Elford predicted.

"There will be 15 students working on it at a time," she said. Students will put parts of the project together in the art room and then place it on the wall, she said.

Roger Weaver, clerk of the works on the project, told school board members recently although weather has delayed some of the new construction on the gymnasium, the overall project will be done in August as expected.

Working on the project are Uhl Construction Co. Inc. as general contractors, Westmoreland Electric as electrical, Renick Brothers as heating and ventilating and Guy's Mechanical Systems Inc. as plumbing. Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates are the architects.