Belgreen HS holds open house for gym

By Staff
Kim West
Franklin County Times
BELGREEN – Belgreen High School celebrated its recently completed gymnasium with an open house Tuesday night that was attended by staff, students, parents and members of the community.
"We had 70 people sign in at the open house, and there were probably 100 total there," Belgreen Principal Steve Pounders said. "We had a really good crowd, and we were pleased with the turnout."
The facility serves as the location for some of Belgreen's physical education classes and will be the new home of the school's prominent basketball program, which previously played in a gym that was built in 1950.
"We had been wanting a new gym for the last 20 years," Pounders said. "The (Franklin County Board of Education) came up with the money to build one from the money that was available through the bond issue."
Ray Phillips, of Thompson-Fisher Company in Florence, supervised the construction and McKee and Associates of Montgomery were the project's architects. Construction began in March 2006 and was completed by the beginning of August.
"The new gym has a capacity of 1050, and the old one could only hold between 700 and 800 people," Pounders said. "We were fortunate to get the (bond) money. We were just tickled to get this gym."
The facility, which is locked during the day as an added safety measure, features a concession stand, hospitality room, four dressing rooms, modern office space for the varsity basketball coaches, a wooden court and four retractable backboards, in addition to the two glass ones on the main court.
"The board let us have some input into the design of the gym," said Pounders.
"We had a lot of good times and big games in the old gym, and now it's time to move on and make new memories in the new gym. I just want to thank Mr. (Bill) Moss and Mr. (Gary) Williams and the board for the new gym, because we really appreciate it."