NHS Athletic Director Hopeful For Gym Renovation

By Andy Hutchison

If Newtown High School’s gymnasium is not renovated, the school’s teams will still be able to practice and play games as they always have, fans will be able to support the Nighthawks, and NHS Athletic Director Gregg Simon and the school’s maintenance workers will continue to wonder why the Hawks have such a home court … disadvantage.

It is no surprise that Simon wants the gymnasium renovation plan to be considered a priority as part of the school’s proposed expansion to be done by Fletcher Thompson, and he is hopeful the project goes forward, but concerned that it could get trimmed from the plans. Simon believes those who are not familiar with the downfalls of the nearly four-decade-old structure need to know exactly why the improvement is necessary, and why this part of the project cannot be cut from the budget.

 A leaky roof and sometimes inoperable features, as well as the inefficient size of the entire space itself, are reasons Simon insists a renovation has to be a priority.

 In late February, a girls’ basketball game was delayed while a tarp was put up under the ceiling to stop water from dripping on the court. As recently as this week there are different areas under the ceiling with tarps in place to catch water. Simon said each winter, custodians have to climb onto the roof to shovel snow away from vents and climb the scaffolding to drain or put up tarps.

 Sometimes the folding divider door that splits the gym space into two small gyms for practice purposes fails to open or close. Simon said the school’s maintenance department officials have told him more than $15,000 has been spent on repairs to the door during the last three years.

The gymnasium’s ventilation system ducts are low-hanging and interfere with shots during basketball games, in addition to making volleyball contests “an adventure,” the athletic director said. The noise of the vents, additionally, means deciding whether to ventilate and heat the gym or allow for students to hear their coaches or physical education teachers.

 “You literally have to scream to get your voice heard over the ventilation system,” Simon said.

 The old wooden pull-out bleachers sometimes get stuck and are in constant need of repair by maintenance personnel. Custodians have been injured trying to pull the bleachers out for students, he said.

 NHS head custodian Jimmy Young said in addition to the bleachers getting stuck, the basketball hoops sometimes do not come down from the ceiling or fold up properly.

 “We have an outside contractor we have to call to fix the units for the basketball hoops,” Young said.

 With all of these problems, “It’s a constant state of worry,” Simon added.

 The athletic director emphasizes that the maintenance workers have done a great job keeping up the facility as best as possible.

Hawks Outgrowing Their Nest

The biggest reason for the need for the renovation is the fact the gym is too small, Simon says.

Built as part of the main school building in the early 1970s, the gym was made to handle the student population of about 1,100. Now, there are close to 1,700 students. Citing 2006-07 school year figures, NHS has roughly 100 to 200 more students than a handful like-sized schools in the South-West Conference, yet, those schools all have gyms that are significantly larger.

 The NHS gym (aka The Hawks Nest) is 8,800 square feet and seats 880 people. By comparison, in Monroe, Masuk High’s population was 1,485 a year ago and the gym was 11,500 square feet and seats 1,300 following a recent renovation. Simon said he had to close the doors and turn away fans three times during the recently concluded winter sports season. Simon added that Pomperaug High recently had brand new gym erected. Despite having about 300 less students, the gym seats twice as many as the one at NHS.

 Young, who has worked in the Monroe school system and has seen other high school facilities in the neighboring towns, says Newtown’s gym is in the worst condition of them all. “It definitely needs to be upgraded,” he said.

 Of course the renovation to the gym is not just a matter of fixing up the old gym, and the project comes with a hefty price tag. If the gym renovation moves forward as part of the overall project it would force the school district to conform with Federal Americans With Disabilities Act guidelines for all athletic facilities. All told, the athletic facilities portion of the budget will cost of chunk of change. Neither an exact nor estimated figure could be provided by the Newtown School District’s Central Office this week because the gym renovation is considered part of the $38.8 million overall project. Simon recognizes, given the money involved, why residents and town boards might have concerns about the project.

 “I understand it’s a hard economic time,” Simon said. “It’s a hard time to bite the bullet on something like this.”

But what some people do not understand, Simon argues, is that the gymnasium is “the most heavily used classroom in the building.” And the gym space has not been kept up along with academic classroom space to meet the needs of the growing population, he said.

During the last school renovation, about a decade ago, the auxiliary gyms at NHS ended up getting trimmed down during budget cuts. NHS ended up with side gyms that, although perfectly suitable for wrestling and gymnastics practices, are not big enough for basketball teams. The problem with this is that the school’s six basketball teams (freshman, junior varsity, and varsity for both boys and girls) have to share one space. As a result, the teams practice consecutively starting at 2 pm and the latest-practicing team does not go home until after 8 pm. Additionally, the NHS color guard goes to other schools for practices. And Newtown High cannot hold pep rallies because the number of students far exceeds the seating capacity, Simon said. Additionally, outside-of-school organizations that are turned away because of the demand for time at the gym, which is the town’s only full size gym, Simon notes.

The renovation would increase the space to roughly 12,000 square feet, give NHS two full-size courts and seat approximately 1,200 fans.

“If it doesn’t happen now it’s never going to happen,” Simon believes.