Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Old Farmington gym comes down
FARMINGTON — The price of progress sometimes means giving up old, cherished traditions, which is what Farmington schools became willing to do with demolition of the old high school gym last week.
Farmington held on to the old gym as long as it could, but an agreement with the state to receive partnership money to build the new 99,000-square-foot high school completed in the summer 2017, mandated the demolition.
Former athletic director Brad Blew informed the School District and School Board several years ago the old gym would have to go.
“They won’t let us have that much gym space,” Blew said during a School Board meeting, explaining state rules limited the amount of gym square footage a school can have under its roof, and with the construction of the state-of-the-art, 1,800-seat Cardinal Arena, which opened in 2015, gym capacity would be exceeded.
During a March 25, 2019, School Board meeting the board agreed to tear down the south hall of the junior high campus and the oldest high school gym as part of the money it received from the state for the new high school.
Kinco Construction was designated as contractor for the project with a projected cost of $89,000 to remove asbestos from two areas. The money was to come from $160,000 in contingency money aside for Phase 3 of the Farmington High campus.
During its March 30 meeting, the board approved a $174,000 contract with Kinco Construction to tear down the old high school gym. Superintendent Bryan Law, whose last day on the job will be June 30, predicted the work would be completed this summer.
Law provided an updated timetable during the board’s April 27 meeting.
“Next week we begin tear down of that facility,” Law said. “It’s a little bit ahead of schedule.”
The School District’s facilities plan submitted earlier this year requests state partnership money to replace the gym with a 23,000-squarefoot addition to the junior high campus. The district will not receive an answer until spring 2021.
“That building has certainly served its time,” Law said, recalling during his first year at Farmington in 1999 the district was told the roof was condemned and would only last two or three more years.
“There’s a lot of history in that building. In that regard it’s a little bit sad,” Law said of the tear down.
Asbestos abatement from the old gym began April 28, with removal of tiles from the floor. The building was sealed during the process with a negative air chamber recycling the air within the structure.
During the April 27 School Board meeting, longtime board member Jeff Oxford, who graduated from Farmington in 1986, noted the durability of a surface installed in 1979.
“That old rubber floor in there is 41 years old,” Oxford said.
Oxford’s graduating class in 1986 had 54 seniors. This year’s graduating class, according to high school Principal Jon Purifoy will number 187.
That kind of growth necessitated construction of a new school, which opened in time for the 2017-2018 school year. Farmington High School boasts wide halls, large classrooms, fully equipped science labs, a modern media center, open agriculture department with individual welding stations in the shop, and a Cardinal-themed commons area. Career pathways classrooms are equipped for television/ media production, robotics and engineering, and healthcare professions.
Mryl Massie Gymnasium was named after a past Farmington superintendent and was home court for boys and girls basketball teams. Later volleyball was added, but volleyball matches were played at the middle school on Rhea’s Mill Road. For 30 years the Cardinals played home contests in Myrl Massie Gym until 2014.
The old gym was built in 1945, according to school records.
Mark Humphrey may be reached by email at mhumphrey@nwadg. com.