You may soon be able to own a piece of Knox sports history.
The Weinberg Gym is set to get a new floor following the current basketball season. The old one will be cut into pieces and will potentially be made available to the public, according to School Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart. “We will then try and sell that to our community, if they would like to have a piece of our historic Weinberg Gym floor,” Reichhart explained during Monday’s school board meeting. “So [Athletic Director] Mr. [Greg] Estok will be in charge of the resale, but we’re listening for ideas.”
The school board agreed to hire Foster Specialty Floors to do the replacement work for just under $180,000. Reichhart said the new wood floor will feature some of the latest technology. “It’s a much safer floor,” he said. “It’s safer for our athletes. It’s safer for our referees who are running up and down that floor. There is not a floor installed like this in Indiana yet in any high school gym.”
Board members believed the old floor was original to the gym, and Reichhart noted that it could only be sanded one more time before the wood would need to be replaced. “It’s seen a lot of balls on it,” School Board President Kirk Bennett commented.
Reichhart said the planned replacement of the lower-level bleachers offered a good opportunity to redo the floor, as well. “One of the things we worry about is someone falling, especially on those lower-level [bleachers],” Reichhart explained. “There’s big steps to get up and down, and there are no handrails. It’s been one of our concerns that someone’s going to get seriously injured, and we don’t want that to happen.”
Board members awarded the bid for the new bleachers Monday to the Lee Company for almost $181,000.
Reichhart said the schedule calls for the existing bleachers to be removed in March, followed by the old floor. Then, the new floor will be installed, along with a couple of coats of finish. The new bleachers will be put in place in time for graduation. After graduation, the new floor will get its lines and the final coats of finish.
Reichhart said the final cost of the two projects ended up being about $42,000 lower than the initial bids, following negotiations.
