Ground Broken On Auxiliary Gym
The Glenwood Community School District held a ceremonial groundbreaking Friday at the future site of the high school’s auxiliary gymnasium and locker room addition.
HSR Associates, Inc. designed the $3.8 million project and Omaha-based contractors Meco-Henne will handle construction. Construction will be completed by the opening of the 2015-2016 school year.
After a year of planning and discussion, Glenwood Activities Director Jeff Bissen is excited to see the project finally come to fruition.
“It’s certainly an exciting time for Glenwood High School as well as the whole school district to get this project started,” Bissen said. “I think this is going to offer a lot of benefits, for not only our student athletes, but our community and everyone involved in Glenwood.
“We hope this will offer more opportunities for the community to use our facility but also limit early morning practices and allow kids to get home earlier without late practices. In terms of the weight room and the wrestling room and the locker room, there’s a convenience factor that will allow more space and more kids to take advantage of the facilities.”
The addition will be on the north side of the high school and will house a new locker room and allow for an expanded weight room and wrestling room in addition to two full-length, 94- foot basketball courts. The locker room will expand its existing space by 3,000-square feet of space while the wrestling room will expand to 5,100-square feet and the weight room to 4,000 square feet.
The district will pay for the project with a $3.5 million revenue bond financed with the district’s Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) dollars it receives through a one-cent sales tax levy. These funds are currently being used for reducing existing bond issue debt as well as technology and building improvements in the district. When completed, Bissen thinks Glenwood’s facilities will be among the top in the Hawkeye 10 Conference.
“Most definitely in the top two or three with being able to have two auxiliary gyms that are college regulation in terms of size; we’ll be No. 1 in the conference in that regard.”