After 17 years of athletics, California High School's gym has finally been renovated. Once the 2010-2011 school year ended, the hard work began immediately.
The new gym floor, to many viewers, brightens the gym as a whole. As well as a floor facelift, the walls were also given a makeover. The wall painting was done by Art Teacher Brad Friedrich and Band Director Matt Rayl.
The process began when the coaching staff met with the athletic booster club in June, which then led to the reconstruction in July. After a month's work, the gym was finally complete in time for the 2011 school year to begin.
The total cost of the facelift was just under $20,000. As with any new purchase, the school is taking great care of the new floor. Many cautionary procedures have been put into place, such as making students walk around the gym to get to class instead of cutting through it.
"Errors were fixed correctly and sudden," said High School Principal, Mike Hight. The kind of paint that was used will last up to 20 years as long as the student body takes pride in it.
Hight is very proud of the new gym floor; "the old design was faded and almost turned green, the gym was due for a makeover," said Hight. "We've had many compliments from outside sources."
Friedrich and Rayl have spent past summers working for the school's maintenance crew, and this summer was no different.
"Working about eight hours a day, the painting took about five to seven days to complete," said Friedrich who is pleased with their work and feels like the painting also brightened up the gym.
Sydney Deeken, sophomore at CHS, really likes the new look of the gym, especially the floor design because there is a lot less clutter with fewer volleyball lines. Many athletes are excited to have the opportunity to compete on the new floor. Among these athletes is Taron Morris, CHS basketball Senior, who said, "I think the new look will give the team more pride in home games, which will lead to a promising season."