Avery Trace Gym Getting Additional Upgrades

After repairs complete to the school’s gym floor after the Christmas freeze, full-scale upgrades are on the way at the Avery Trace Middle School gymnasium.

Principal Alma Anderson said new retractable bleachers and a fresh coat of paint from ceiling to floor headline the renovations underway. She said the gym floor was replaced last year and she is glad to get the rest of the facility updated to match.

“I’m going to always hope that they’re coming to my school for the academics, you know?” Anderson said. “But definitely, having new bleachers and having a brand new floor and a bright gym, definitely, that just looks so nice for the entire system.”

The gym has been closed for the summer, but Anderson said it will be well worth it when the project wraps up. She said painting is already underway, but the bleachers may not arrive until the fall.

“Generally speaking, our bleachers were decent,” Anderson said. “I mean, you could sit in them. They weren’t cracked or broken or anything like that, but just old.”

She said new vinyl flooring has been laid in the locker rooms to replace old carpet. She said the bleacher replacement should not interfere with classes or practices once they arrive, even if school is already in session by then.

“Hopefully when it comes time to install the new bleachers, it won’t be a long, drawn-out process,” Anderson said. “You know, it’d be a matter of taking them out and then putting the new ones in, and it’d be great if we could do it over fall break, but we don’t know.”

The project cost the district some $121,000.