Leak Damages SGCHS Gym
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MEDINA, Tenn. – Some local sports teams are scrambling to find a place to practice after the South Gibson County High School gym was damaged by a water leak, causing at least $100,000 in damage. The gym is only five years old, and parts of it are torn into pieces. Crews have been tearing up the floor, after noticing it was buckling late last month. They still have not found the source of the leak. South Gibson County High School basketball and volleyball players said it has been hard to practice this summer, now that their gym is a construction zone. “We really have a chance this year, and all of our teammates really thought that we had a chance, ’cause we have this new coach coming in, and we’re all excited, and then when the gym came out, it kind’ve killed our momentum,” said Colton Lowery, an incoming sophomore basketball player. Some athletes are forced to use the middle school gyms for practice, because school district leaders said more than half of the high school gym floor is damaged. “We’re not saying it’s from outside, it could be something that may be going on internally, and that’s why it’s important that we start the removal process of the floor,” said Terry Cunningham, director of finance and operations with the Gibson County Special School District. Players said they practice on their own or in small groups, but said it is not near as beneficial as practicing with the entire team. “It’s impacting the team, I think, a little bit ’cause we’re not really getting the practice as a team. I think it’s hurting us as a team a little bit,” said Logan Dyess, an incoming sophomore basketball player. School district officials said the gym likely will not be ready before school starts. “Once we start the tear out, or given the OK to start the tear out, it’ll probably take about four weeks from start to finish,” Cunningham said. They hope to be finished by mid-August. But until then, athletes said they will continue to practice on their own, to have a shot at a successful season. School district officials said if the volleyball team has any games scheduled before they are finished with the gym, they will have to play their home games at the middle school. They said the principals are also working on how to handle physical education class without the gym for the beginning of the school year.
