After almost a month of renovations, the Bellwood-Antis Middle School gymnasium is up and running once again, following a fire in December that rendered the gym floor unusable.
The gym has been closed since December 17, when a fire that was later ruled arson forced the district to close the middle and high school buildings for the week leading up to Christmas. The fire began in the middle school wrestling room in the boys locker room.
Former B-A student Elias Alley was charged with setting the blaze.
Fire, smoke, and water damage prevented students from returning to the school until January 5.
According to B-A Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Thomas Kovac, the gym floor had suffered heavy smoke damage which resulted into a thick, rubbery soot that became imbedded into the floor.
STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS
“The gym floor was the biggest piece that was restricting normal operation; however replacing the overhead units which we used to expel the extremely heavy soot smoke will be a large undertaking,” Kovac reported.
However, the damage went well beyond just the surface of the floor, Kovac, said.
“We have had a number of contractors in working on every square inch of the gymnasium,” he said. “All of the overhead piping, electrical conduits, lights, heaters, cabling, had to be hand scrubbed to remove the smoke residue. The walls and bleachers also had to be hand scrubbed. The heaters were torn apart and scrubbed, but it looks like they will all need to be replaced.”
As a result of the middle school gym and locker room closure, students have had to adapt to the circumstances.
“Some classes we had study hall in the cafeteria when we couldn’t relocate to the high school gym,” Middle school health and physical education teacher Mr. Brent Hughes stated. “When the high school gym was available we had class up in that gym.”
The fire even reach the closet filled with the gym’s equipment in the boy’s locker room. Most gym equipment and even some basketball and volleyball supplies were found destroyed.
“We’re just kind of taking things day by day, doing what we can with what we have, making the best of a bad situation,” Mr. Hughes said. “And before you know it, the new stuff will be here.”
The gym’s floor features a new design that has a lighter appeal than the old one, with the inside of the 3-point area stained darker. There’s a smaller B-A logo at mid-court and yellow volleyball lines. The court is surrounded by a blue border.
“It [the gym floor] is nice. Unfortunate it took that to get it, but it’s something that definitely needed to be done. It looks really good, the result,” said Mr. Hughes.
While the girls locker room is open, the boys rooms still won’t be available for some time, most likely late in the summer.
“The roof has to be torn off and replaced and all hvac and electrical needs replaced,” said Kovac.
Because the renovations won’t be complete for a few months, Kovac said there wasn’t an accurate estimate of the costs, but he said that resurfacing a gym floor typically runs around $30,000.