CENTERBURG – Centerburg football players traded the field for a little construction work, putting some offseason time into the renovation of their new locker rooms.
Players helped remove the old flooring, paint lockers and move equipment into the renovated facility as the Centerburg Local School District worked to give its football programs a new and improved space ahead of the season.
The building was previously owned by the Centerburg Athletics Boosters Club. The club donated the building to the school in January, according to Centerburg Local School District Supt. Ryan Gallwitz
That donation allowed the district to invest in an existing building, rather than take on the much higher cost of building a new facility.
“I’m very fortunate that they gave it to us and we were able to put some money into it to extend the life of this building for many, many years,” Gallwitz said.
Construction of a new building would have been up to $2 million dollars. With the donation of the building, upgrades cost a little more than $300,000, according to Gallwitz.
“Our kids used the building for the locker room for quite a number of years (and) we knew the building needed repairs,” Gallwitz said.
Those repairs were needed throughout the building, including the floor and spaces for coaches.
“The flooring was terrible. It was hard to clean. Poor airflow. No real meeting space for the coaches, and the middle school kids were in the building next door,” Gallwitz said.
Making an old building new again
Originally, the building was only utilized by the high school team. The middle school locker room was located in a storage shed nearby.
The renovations now allow both teams to use the same facility.
“We were able to stretch our dollars as far as we could … To make repairs instead of building something brand new,” Gallwitz said.
Modern Builders completed the renovations, which included new flooring, drywall, structural beams, an upgraded HVAC system and changes to the building’s layout. The renovations also created a coach’s office and a dedicated area for officials.
The building also houses an updated concession stand that the Boosters Club will continue to run. Though it’s smaller than the previous stand, there is now a paved space outside for gathering attendees.
The renovation also leaves the building with potential uses beyond football. Gallwitz said the district could convert the building into offices or classrooms if it ever moves the football field.
The project wasn’t made possible just from the work of the builders, everyone from school teachers and custodians to local volunteers pitched into the work.
The football facility is representative of a bigger project, one that will keep Centerburg up-to-date and well-maintained.
“We’ve been trying to gradually, each year, make a small improvement and try to keep up on the maintenance (of the district) … take care of a lot of the little issues, to keep our facilities as nice as we can,” Gallwitz said.
