Out with the old, in with a new gym floor by … January
Nov. 17, 2022 | By Lisa Scagliotti
Demolition on the Harwood gymnasium floor got underway this week with contractors using heavy equipment to rip out the old hardwood surface that’s been in place for more than 50 years.
Work on the $209,000 project began on Monday with workers from Danaher Floor Restoration Inc. in Clarendon, Vermont, tearing up the wood surface and filling 30-yard trash containers with the pieces.
The gym floor is getting replaced after a sprinkler in the ceiling accidentally was hit by a basketball during a physical education class in late September. The mishap damaged the sprinkler, setting it off and flooding a portion of the gym with more than 1,000 gallons of dark brown water sitting in the system that’s fed from a pond behind the school.
Water then seeped under the floor and quickly spread out under a large area of the gym. A contractor was brought in to attempt to dry out the moisture but after more than a week, the surface beneath the wood floor remained damp and the wood flooring in some areas was damaged.
School officials worked with the district’s insurance company and made the call to replace rather than just repair the floor that covers 11,000 square feet.
A new gym floor was one item on the list of renovations at Harwood Union Middle/High School that was proposed a year ago as part of a nearly $60 million bond. Voters, however, rejected the bond with most of the work it sought to do put on hold.
By Friday, most of the wood surface was pulled up inside the gym and the concrete slab underneath was exposed.
Superintendent Mike Leichliter said the concrete was examined and testing was done to determine whether moisture levels in and under it had dissipated enough to move ahead with the replacement floor. If not, additional remediation may be needed, he said.
The incident and floor construction project come as the school year moves into the winter sports season. Winter sports tryouts and practices are set to begin the week of Nov. 28. Leichliter said if the floor project goes smoothly, it would be expected to be completed by the end of December.
In the meantime, school officials have said that high school and middle school basketball teams will juggle schedules to use the gym at Crossett Brook Middle School as much as possible. Leichliter said Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield can make its gymnasium available.
So far, the online schedule for Harwood junior varsity and varsity boys and girls basketball teams shows scrimmages starting Dec. 3 as away matches. The season’s first games on the calendar begin on Dec. 12 with all of the December games played at opposing teams’ schools. That continues through Jan. 14, with home games entering the mix the week of Jan. 16.
Athletic Director Chris Langevin wasn’t available for comment on Friday for additional details.
School principals have said physical education classes during this time would be outdoors as much as possible and have use of the school’s smaller upstairs gym.