CHIMACUM—The newly renovated Chimacum High School gymnasium provides an improved athletic space but will also increase spectator participation and boost school pride, according to school personnel.
“For the teams, this gym is as good or better than any gym they travel to, and that is huge,” athletic director Gary Coyan said.
“Before this, our gym was the most outdated in the league. Now they aren’t going to find a better gym on the road, and that adds to school pride.”
“This is a place where kids want to be,” said Principal Whitney Meissner.
“So they’ll fill the stands and come out to support sportsmanship, which is as important for a spectator as a player.”
An open house begins today in the gym foyer at 4:30 p.m. followed a volleyball game against Cascade Christian at 5 p.m.
The school is located at 91 West Valley Road.
The renovations on the 8,500-square-foot gym cost around $1.2 million and were financed by a 2012 levy increase, according to Art Clarke, the district’s finance director.
Work began at the end of the 2013-2014 school year and finished up last week, during which time student athletes used other facilities.
Coyan said that he scheduled all of the home volleyball games at the end of the season to accommodate the upgrades.
It includes automatic controls for both the bleachers and the basketball hoops, the latter of which previously required climbing up a ladder and using a drill to raise and lower the hoops.
A new logo was installed on the gym floor, a representation of the school’s cowboy mascot.
The logo was designed by Chimacum student Holly Taylor, 17, as her senior project and also appears on the side of every row of bleachers and on the curtains that wrap around the seating area.
Taylor, a student in Coyan’s advanced arts class, desiged the logo using her finger and an iPod.
“It’s something modern, yet respectful to Chimacum’s history,” Coyan said of the design.
The gym floor itself, is brand new, and is free of the many court markings that cluttered up the previous floor.
Coyan said the floor is by far his favorite improvement.
“We used to have yellow, red and green lines on the floor and now the baskeball lines are Cowboys blue, the volleyball lines are white and the sidelines are gray,” Coyan said.
“It just looks sharp, and having a student designed logo, you can’t beat that.”
The logo-engraved bleachers feature wider, more comfortable seats and hold about 150 people.
This is a smaller capacity than the old bleachers but they were never full, Meissner said.
Also included are platforms for the band and photographers along with the ability to store the bottom row in order to provide ADA access.
Another improvement is the sound system and the acoustics, which included putting up acoustic panels to eliminate the echo.
“Before it was so bad that we couldn’t have a conversation right here and understand what the other person was saying,” Meissner said.
“The echo was strong and was even worse when the gym was empty.”
Directional speakers were also installed and can be used to increase sound in one end of the gym without blasting the other, Coyan said.
It can also connect wirelessly to a portable music system like a phone, he said.
The renovation included a complete revamp of the locker rooms, with private shower stalls and all-new bathroom fixtures.
It also involved making the boys’ and girls’ facilities the same size as well as increasing the size of the adjacent weight room.
Other improvements include an ice machine in each locker room and a water bottle filling station.
A storage room also was converted into a referees dressing room, complete with a private shower and bathroom.
“The kids really love this,” Coyan said of the gym.
“Some of last year’s seniors came back to visit and said they wished they could have played one more year.”
________
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sports reporter Michael Carman contributed to this report.
