Amherst unveils renovations

School fixed damage from 2021 downpour, also put in new bleachers

Sometimes, a bad situation can lead to changes for the better.

Look no further than Amherst High School’s newly renovated gym. Nearly the entire renovation was completed around July 14, with only one or two small details left to be done. The cost was about $300,000.

“It’s something we’ve talked about and wanted for a period of time,” Amherst Athletic Director Casey Wolf said. “It was kind of an unfortunate situation, back a year ago in June fast forwarded everything to get this gym project done. Early June 2021 there was a heavy downpour and we got about two to three inches of rain in about a half-hour. It all rushed down the parking lot and came in through the doors

of the south entrance.”

According to Wolf, the water worked its way onto the court and did damage to the area under the visiting bleachers.

“We were fortunate enough to work with our insurance company to get the floor repaired, and one thing lead to another,”

Wolf said, with principal Joe Tellier and a few other key players sitting down and talking about fixing more than the gym floor. That led to the decisions of repainting the walls and putting in a new set of bleachers, with the bleachers being a safety concern that “were ready to be replaced. “An unfortunate situation turned into a positive for our school and our school district in our community.”

Players past and present from the basketball team recently had a chance to check out the newly renovated gymnasium and break it in a little bit.

“I reached out to Coach (Pat) Bray when I knew the project was going to be complete, and we talk quite a bit,” he said. “In one of our conversations in late June I told him ‘Hey, sometime after July 15, if you want to get some of last year’s seniors and seniors from years past and some of our current guys for an open gym so they can enjoy it, that’d be awesome.’ I know our volleyball team is going in there tomorrow (July 27) for the first time.

COURTESY OF CASEY WOLF Amherst’s gym renovations were completed around July 14, replacing the floor, bleachers, and repainting walls.

COURTESY OF CASEY WOLF The newly installed home bleachers at Amherst High School.