There are a lot of rumors about what caused the flooding of our gym, but we finally have the answer. We also know how it will look when we get the new floor. 

On September 22 the sprinkler system in the gym had a leak, and about 1000 gallons of water flooded a part of the floor. The leak was caused by a basketball that was kicked to the ceiling and through extremely bad luck, it hit a sprinkler head which resulted in the sprinkler water being released. “Sprinkler water is not clean water. It’s been sitting in iron pipes for a long period of time, we do flush them in the summer, but it’s still sitting in an iron pipe. The water also comes out of the brook. So it goes to a pond. And then from there, it gets pumped to the school when needed,” Ray Daigle explained. 

The water damaged the floor and soaked up the water like a sponge. The old subfloor was a wood fiber board which holds a lot of moisture and is difficult to dry. It was installed in 1965 and didn’t have any cushion to protect people from getting injured. The new floor which is supposed to be finished by the end of January will have a modern cushion, and it will be more appropriate for a high school gym. 

We will also get new bleachers which are going to be installed in the beginning of 2023. Although there were no plans to renovate the floor before the flooding, there was already demand for a new floor considering the age and the missing protective layer. After the flooding the school wanted to buy a modern floor even if it would be more  expensive, because they wanted the “upgrade’’ but fortunately the insurance company covered everything including the cleanup. So we will end up with a nice and new floor without paying anything! “It’ll be a beautiful floor when it’s done. It’ll be worth it’ll be worth the wait,’’ Ray Daigle cheerfully informed. Thanks to our facilities department we will have a brand new gym floor after the winter break!