Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Remembering The Old Farmington Gym
FARMINGTON — Michelle Beeks, a 1985 graduate of Farmington High, had a front row seat as the high school’s old gym was torn down the first week in May.
Beeks works in the Farmington School District’s administration office and walked outside to watch the demolition as it progressed throughout the week.
She posted photos of the teardown on her Facebook page. Her first post and photo on May 5 said, “Came to work today and it made me sad. This Farmington gym was built in 1945. Played a lot of basketball and coached a lot of dance in that building.”
Afterward, Beeks said “lots of memories” came to mind that week.
As a junior, Beeks watched the last graduation ceremony in the old gym in 1984. Her graduating class was the first one to have its commencement ceremony in the new Myrl Massie Gymnasium in May 1985.
She played half-court girls’ basketball in the gym, was a cheerleader and coached many dance teams throughout the years.
Beeks remembers alumni basketball games in the old gym and donkey basketball games. A popular annual event was the Halloween Carnival each fall.
The gym back then had very steep bleachers on both sides with windows at the top of the bleachers. The windows were later covered up and Beeks said she saw the windows again during the demolition.
At one point, the gym’s wood floor was replaced with a new rubber one, and Beeks said she remembers that everyone “hated” the new floor at first.
However, Beeks said her fondest memories, besides activities in the gym itself, are times she gathered with friends and classmates on the “gym porch” just outside the building.
“The gym porch used to be open and that is where everybody hung out,” Beeks said. “We were there before and after school, any free period, there’s where we hung out.”
Years before Beeks attended Farmington High, Nadine Spears, a 1959 graduate, also played basketball in the old gym.
Spears said she played half- court basketba l l throughout junior high and high school.
“My best memories are playing basketball,” Spears said. “I loved basketball. I still do.”
The Class of 1959 had 13 members graduate in the old gym. At the time, Farmington had 100 citizens, according to the city limits’ sign, Spears said.
The Halloween Carnival was probably the biggest event held each year in the gym. She said a king and queen were crowned, along with representatives from each class. Spears also remembers Colors Day celebrations during basketball season.
Spears comes from a family who has supported Farmington schools over the years. Her father, A.C. Williams, served as a school board member. Her husband, Bob Spears, and son Randy Spears, also were board members. A nephew, Doug Williams, presently serves on the board.
“We love Farmington,” Spears said.
Mark Cunningham, who just retired June 1 as Farmington fire chief, said he played junior high and high school basketball in the old gym.
“It had all-wood bleachers on both sides that went up high along the wall,” Cunningham said. “I remember running those bleachers. The bleachers went all the way to the top.”
Besides basketball games and P.E., the gym also was used for community gatherings, Cunningham said.
Dee Ness, who served on the Farmington History Committee with her mother, Janie Steele, a longtime Farmington City Council member who passed away in 2018, said she had lots of fond memories of the annual Halloween Carnival held in the old gym each year.
“There was a locker room above the bleachers and that’s where the older students would have the haunted house,” said Ness, a member of the Farmington Class of 1982.
She also remembered going to the old gym as a young girl.
“My dad played in a men’s basketball league and they would have tournaments. There were always large crowds at any event held in the gym,” Ness said.
Another Farmington graduate, Diana Parker, said she started a pep club for the basketball team her senior year, 1966- 67, because the school did not have cheerleaders at the time. Parker also was a junior maid on the basketball Colors Day Court her junior year.
“It was just a fun time there,” Parker said. “Everyone was socializing and getting together in the gym.”
Farmington held on to the old gym as long as it could, but an agreement with the state to receive partnership money to build a new high school building mandated the demolition.
The gym will be replaced with a 23,000-square-foot addition to the Farmington Junior High campus.