The Hi-Times
Gym RenovationsSaturday, September 25, 2004 By Lauren Ellis
Although this year you won’t find students taking roundabout routes in order to avoid blocked off hallways, or see students working hard to focus despite the echoing sound of a drill, part of Broughton is still under construction. This year both the Holliday and Broughton’s small gym will undergo five million dollars worth of renovations. Holliday Gym, which has been under construction since before the start of the 2004-2005 school year, will have many new technological features when finished in April 2005. These updates include both an elevator and a new scoreboard. Along with these additions, a new wooden court will be installed. In addition, the weight room will also be enlarged, moved to the bottom floor and located in the back of the building. Both women’s and men’s locker rooms are being restored. While Broughton’s Holiday Gymnasium, which happens to be the largest in Wake County, will not increase in overall size, the current overhang over the gym’s exit will be enclosed, allowing for extra space in the front of the gym. Plans for this space include the installation of new concession stands and a ticket booth. Although there will be no significant changes to the upper level of the small gym, it is hoped that its basement will be completely redone by January 2006. The women’s locker room’s current location will become the ROTC room. Even though at first glance it may appear as though the gym renovations aren’t having much of an impact on the school, a closer look will prove different. The seasons of Broughton’s basketball and volleyball teams have been greatly affected. Despite the fact that the teams are now finding practice space available in the small gym, they must travel to Centennial Middle School to play all home games. “The gym renovations will definitely affect our fall workouts. Since we have to travel to Centennial for our games, we’ll be losing some practice time. Plus, we’ll be faced with the challenge of adapting to the Centennial court because it has smaller dimensions than Broughton’s,” Douglas Andrews, men’s junior varsity basketball coach, said. Many players hope that the move to Centennial will not affect the number of spectators, whom they rely on to get pumped for the games. “The overall impact isn’t seen in the day-to-day school routine, but it’s affecting people such as athletes and coaches. Right now there isn’t a laundry room available for use. Each day after practice the football coaches take all the players’ laundry home with them,” Mike Ludwick, assistant principal, said. The trailers in the front of the school are being used as temporary locker rooms and health classrooms. It’s not just the athletic program being affected. Renovations of Holliday Gymnasium have also formed a dilemma for this year’s Prom and Queen of Hearts. It has been decided that Queen of Hearts will take place on April 23rd at Broughton, after all renovations to Holliday have been completed. Prom, which normally takes place in the spring at Broughton, will be held on February 12th at the Shrine Club. The renovations of Broughton’s Holliday Gymnasium and small gym will definitely benefit the students. Although athletes and organizations such as student council have to work around the renovations, the completed design will be a large improvement for the school. “When completed, the new Holliday and small gym are going to be great. It’s really something to look forward to,” Ludwick said. |