SR's new gym highlight of project
SLIPPERY ROCK — With a state-of-the-art volleyball system and bright red accents everywhere, Slippery Rock High School's new gym has been officially ready for a few weeks now.
Most students will get their first view of the completed gym on Wednesday as the district starts school. The $6.5-million project includes the addition of a 1,000-seat gym that's bigger than the existing one, a new main entrance to the school and several other classrooms and locker rooms. Part of the existing high school was renovated as well.
Students in volleyball and other fall sports have already been using the facility, officially opened to the district Aug. 14.
"Our fall sports programs have been in their locker rooms since day one," said Corey Hake, athletic director. The availability makes things easier for students and coaches in fall sports, he said.
Slippery Rock's gym is "one of the best we ever built," according to Paul Hengelsberg, vice president of Uhl Construction Co., Inc., general contractor for the project. He said the floor, size and color are all reasons why he calls it one of the best.
Although supplies for the gym came from five different companies, all of the reds look like they match perfectly, for example.
The volleyball net system, which includes two side-by-side nets that retract into the ceiling, is the only one of its kind in a high school gym in Pennsylvania, according to Hengelsberg.
For players and coaches, that system will mean an extra half-hour of playing time each time they practice, said Hake.
"The time saved switching a button as opposed to setting up a net," he said can be very valuable. The system saves on storage space as well.
The net system also has judges stands attached to both ends. This innovation is the first in the country, Hake has heard. The change from normal judges stands means a safer game since someone diving for the ball won't be hitting a pole attached to the ground that holds a judge's stand.
Practice times for all teams have been adjusted to allow more students to practice after school, Hake said. When the school board originally considered the gym, Hake and others were concerned with late practice times for students because the one gym was overbooked.
"In the winter we have seven teams who need a gym to practice but now they have three to use," he said, including the gym next door at Slippery Rock Middle School,
In addition, events can now handle 1,000 spectators instead of about 500. That's the number of people that could fit in the old gym. Also available to students this year will be the new fitness room, two new classrooms and training rooms located in the basement of the new gym.
Most students will notice the new entrance as the biggest change when they arrive Wednesday, said Pat Connelly, facilities director for the district.
"I think kids will be impressed by it," he said.
Crews were still building canopies for the entrance this week located in the middle of the front of the school. For the past year, students entered at the back of the high school instead due to construction.
The new entrance includes a new commons area that is large and bright, lined with trophy cases and accented with a student mosaic. Teacher Brandi Elford's art classes worked on the 4-by-8-foot mosaic last spring, which displays a rocket, the school mascot, made up of 26,000 pieces of tile. About $500,000 of other miscellaneous renovations included air conditioning repair, updates to the science labs, renovations to the CAD facility, electrical upgrades and other items.
Other improvements done last summer include almost $1 million in electrical service upgrades in the high school to ]improve computer service.
Working on the project in addition to Uhl Construction were Westmoreland Electric, electrical; Renick Brothers, heating and ventilating, and Guy's Mechanical Systems Inc., plumbing. Burt Hill was the architectural firm for the project.
Board members voted in late 2003 to start planning for the project, but before that, two years of discussions went on debating its advantages. The project cost added about 3.2 mills in property taxes which was added into the 2005-06 school district budget.
