Central Collegiate’s ‘Strengthening our Legacy’ program aims to replace aging gym surface

Just like infrastructure of all kinds, school facilities have a tendency to wear out and break down over time, needing an increasing amount of repair before replacement finally becomes necessary. Central Collegiate is no exception to that rule, with the wooden floor of their gymnasium having become one of their most-pressing needs as it finally reaches its end point after nearly six decades of service.

“The floor was built in 1961 and there’s some dead spots and our school division has done a really good job of repairing it, it’s safe for the students to use, but we’re approaching 60 years now so we’re hoping to get it replaced at some point soon,” said principal Stephane Gauvin as the Cyclones senior girls basketball team took the court against Assiniboia on Feb. 27.

“We have very capable people at our school division and they make sure that our floor is safe and when we have a concern they’re very prompt with fixing it, so we really appreciate all their efforts. But the reality is it’s old and it’s not going to improve with time.” The floor has been re-sanded, re-painted and re-coated many times over the years, with small areas that are damaged repaired using epoxy patches and the like. Surveying the playing surface reveals many such darker and discoloured areas where work been done. “It’s just like anything in life, it starts to get older and then it starts to break down a bit and has to be fixed,” Gauvin said. The school’s Strengthening our Legacy program has raised around $60,000 so far through more than 200 donors, with the plan to raise $125,000 and then apply for a matching grant from the school division. With the fundraising portion nearly halfway to its goal, it’s hoped work will begin in the near future, possibly as early as this summer.

“But if it doesn’t happen this summer, we will just keep plugging away at our fundraising goals and keep looking for more generous people to help us out and eventually reach our goals,” Gauvin said.

Potential donors can check out https:// schools.prairiesouth.ca/centralcollegiate or contact the school for more information.

A high school girls basketball game underway on the Central Collegiate gym floor. The school is in the midst of a campaign to have the aging playing surface replaced in the near future.