Puyallup High Schools’ gymnasium was renovated in 1984 and then refurbished again in 1993-1994, but it might be close to the time for another remodel. One minor nuisance that could be more of a problem later is the gyms lack of an elevator for guests or students to reach the second floor. There are classes on the second floor of the gym that students may need to access, and there is the upper bleachers that guests may want to get to but cannot because there is no elevator.

“The schools custodial staff and facility crew has done a pretty good job at keeping things in working order and making the best of what we’ve got. The elevator problem is not very worrying, the school makes sure that the classes offered in second floor gym are also available in the main building and in any case of a problem reaching the second floor the school staff take care of each occasion case by case.” Principle David Sunich said.

Another problem that the gym building faces is the privilege of bathrooms, there is only one working toilet in the boys’ locker room and it is rough condition along with tiny size. The use of a bathroom is an important necessity for a classroom that shouldn’t be interfered with because of only one available toilet. Along with a small bathroom our weight room is also on the smaller side, this makes it extremely hot and cramped for weight lifting classes and sports teams that use the weights. On top of all of that the gym floor is the worst reported problem, there are over 30 locations of chunks missing out of the floor which haven’t been a huge problem but are continually getting worse over time.

“We make good use of what we have. There are only so many times that you can sand or fix up the floors but we have made the best with we can do. There’s also the issue that you would want your school to look good and you want kids to be able to participate and play on quality surfaces that are at least equal to other schools in the area.” said gym teacher Ken Fleisch.

The condition may be rough but it is something we will have to deal with for a while, Principle Sunich agrees that the gym is getting outdated, but a multi-million dollar project as big as renovating the gym is not the first priority of the school district seeing as they just passed a bond for construction of several new elementary schools, so the wait for a newly remodeled gym continues.