Mount seeks new hoops floor
MSC hopes to raise funds for new basketball surface
WOONSOCKET — In football parlance, Mount St. Charles is rapidly approaching the goal line in the school’s fundraising efforts for the $224,207 that’s needed to cover the cost for a state-of-the-art, hardwood gym floor.
Donald Demers, director of institutional development at Mount, said on Tuesday that thanks to the generosity of so many, over $200,000 has been secured to date. If the remaining funds can be raised by the end of the current school year, it’s conceivable the new hardwood surface would become a summer project where six weeks are needed to complete the project.
“We’re very close to our goal,” Demers said.
The need for a new indoor playing surface at Mount comes at a time when the current rubber floor is approaching critical mass in terms of player safety. Since the rubber surface was installed, Mount has invested upwards to $100,000 to keep it playable, yet bubbling due moisture problems has resulted in dead spots right in the middle of the play area of both basketball and vol- leyball.
“It has to be replaced. It’s no longer a choice,” Demers said. “We’ve moved beyond patching.”
The battle cry for this project where fundraising is the only option – school administrators could decide to redirect a portion of the school’s annual fundraising effort into this much-needed endeavor – was first sounded six to eight weeks ago when the Mount community reached out to the families and alums involved in basketball and volleyball. A positive return from those associated with those two sports helped spur the efforts to spread awareness to other families with firm Mount ties.
“All the children utilize the gym at some point or another,” Demers said.
Brother Roland Champagne, MSC director of facilities, along school athletic director Richard Lawrence and associate athletic director Ray Leveille have already met with the company that would install the hardwood floor. It would be the same playing surface that has been placed down in gymnasiums at Providence College, La Salle Academy, St. Raphael Academy, and Bay View.
“We have a quote in hand, but the project is contingent upon funding,” Demers said.
Besides the new hardwood floor, the cost also includes relocating the bleachers, line and logo painting, and ADA compliant ramping. In a release issued by Mount St. Charles, it states, “the company is so confident that they can eliminate the problems we have been experiencing that they are even providing us with an extended warranty at no cost.”
Included in the literature that was distributed by Mount was a photoshop rendering of the exciting feature that could be on its way to the Logee Street campus. Henry Coleman, the school’s varsity boys’ basketball head coach, volunteered to provide a visual sense of what a new hardwood floor would look like for Mount’s athletic community.
If Mount St. Charles exceeds the needed goal of $224,407, the school will purchase a cover for the floor to protect the hardwood when special events are held in the gymnasium.
For more information, email Demers at demersd@mtstcharles.org or call (401) 869-0310 Ext. 122.