A renovation of the Friends Select gymnasium, with an estimated completion date of October 28th, 2024, will make the school’s second-largest community space (second to the rooftop field) both more versatile and aesthetically pleasing.
This project aims to completely renovate the gym, both functionally and aesthetically. The remodeled gym will feature new equipment such as new lights, scoreboards, and bleachers, as well as an improved Bluetooth-powered sound system. Bill Klose, Director of Athletics, explains, “One of the bigger things that we’re doing is adding bleachers to both sides so we can increase how many people can safely be in there to watch events [and] games.” The new bleachers will be motorized and seat 380 people at a time, more than double the seating capacity of the old bleachers, which was around 130.
During the school day, the gym is commonly used for P.E. classes and Lower School festivities. However, after school hours, the Upper School basketball teams bring in crowds of up to 150, including students of all ages, families, and athletic scouts. In the old gymnasium, “The floor was very bad, and in general, our courts were old,” recalls Isaiah Marshall ‘25, a shooting guard and point guard for the Varsity Boys’ Basketball team. “The temperature in the gym [was] too hot. We talked to the coach about our problems…which is now why we are having a new gym for the upcoming season.”
The gym is utilized every day by all three divisions of the Friends Select School community, but, previously, its usage was limited. One of the goals of this renovation is to transform the gym into a more attractive and versatile space to host many kinds of community events. “Now other things, like a dance, or a speaker to come in…there [will be more] opportunities to do that,” says Read DeSabato, Director of Facilities.
In the long term, Bill hopes for the renovation to inspire even more enthusiasm for FSS Athletics, both from current students and prospective families. “[Prospective families], seeing a nicer space, seeing the board and administration willing to pour money into our facilities like the [Falcon’s Nest], the front lobby, the roof, the gym…I think that it’s important.”
Additional features like glass doors and matching white paint will help to make the gym a prominent feature of the building, literally and figuratively centralizing FSS Athletics in the community.
