Principal says gym construction still on track

Construction at Pullman High School's new gymnasium seemed far from over Monday, but according to PHS principal Joe Thornton, everything was going according to plan.

The Pullman gym, better known as the Hound Pound, is scheduled to open in late August. As of now, the structure is still lacking a wooden floor, painted walls, a finished ceiling, bleachers and some other signs of a finished product. However, Thornton is confident the project will be completed on time.

"Two months from today, the plan on paper - recognizing that sometimes with construction, things happen, whether it's a delay in materials or something has to be redone, or something like that - but so far the contractors have been great hitting targets," Thornton said. "The plan is this date in August we'll be doing PE classes and volleyball practices."

The gym is part of a $55 million project that includes a plethora of changes to the school, including new classrooms and a 450-seat theater. Perhaps the biggest change - other than the gym - is the reduction of entrances to the school. Construction plans call for a student entrance and exit located next to the office to serve as a substitute for the nearly 80 doors the school used to have.

The gym will have a new weight room and fitness room along with a new floor space - a big hit with the coaching staff.

"They are certainly excited about a new gym. For example, with our old gym, one of the huge problems with volleyball is they have a really low beam," Thornton said. "It was not uncommon in volleyball for a ball to hit the beam and you just have to play it off the beam. That shouldn't happen, so this gym has a much higher ceiling."

Both the volleyball and basketball teams played most of their home matches at Lincoln Middle School last season. The atmosphere for games at Lincoln was an interesting one, as the bleachers were on just one side of the court. At the old Hound Pound, parents of both teams would generally sit on one side of the court, while the PHS student section would sit on the other side. The new Hound Pound will also feature bleachers on both sides. Perhaps more importantly for coaches, the floor will have different dimensions.

"This will also accommodate two regulation-size side basketball courts," Thornton said. "For practice, there's a net we can drop in between for two full-size basketball courts and three regulation-size volleyball courts for practice.

"In fact, what was crazy about that old gym, even though it was a big gym, we had three side basketball courts, but none of them were regulation size," Thornton continued. "So when you practiced on them, you kind of messed up your practice because they weren't the right length, they weren't the right width, it just kind of made for a goofy situation."

Games may have a more intimate feel at the new gym, as there will be less open space behind the baskets. Fans will get their first look at the gym in a few weeks, but schedules for the upcoming basketball and volleyball seasons have yet to be released.

Tom Hager can be reached at (208) 883-4633 or by email to thager@dnews.com.