Fieldhouse getting 100K facelift

CELINA - The iconic Celina High School Fieldhouse is undergoing a nearly $100,000 facelift ahead of an eventual $126.8 million school building project.

Contractors will replace lights, revamp the floor and put a new coat of paint on the ceiling of the building, superintendent Ken Schmiesing said this week.

McBride Brothers of Elida is painting the ceiling, estimated at $41,700; Koester Electric of Coldwater is installing LED lights, estimated at $25,000; Majestic Flooring Systems LLC of Coldwater is sanding, resurfacing and apply art work to the floor, estimated at $19,000; and Homan Inc. of Maria Stein is supplying two new ceiling fans, $7,500.

The overhaul will be paid for with district permanent improvement funds.

"Our PI fund account is currently over $900,000. We can use these funds for projects which have a lifespan of over five years of use," Schmiesing said. "The money which is in the PI fund mainly comes from our tax incentive funded districts."

The entire project is expected to wrap up before the end of August but some of the work, including the ceiling painting, is well underway.

"That work is pretty much completed. Instead of a yellow ceiling, now it's white again," Schmiesing told school board members this week.

Schmiesing said the ceiling was last painted probably decades ago.

LED lights will be installed throughout the facility.  

"That process has also begun, more so in the restrooms, the locker rooms, those side areas first," Schmiesing said. "We're waiting for the painting to be completely done and then they'll work on the lighting inside the fieldhouse."

The new LED light will provide multiple benefits.

"They would definitely be brighter. We had that opportunity to also dim the lights over the seating so everybody will be more focused on the play court," Schmiesing pointed out.

Energy efficiency is another plus.

"That's why we're doing them, not just over the playing court and the seating but also in the locker rooms, over the concession areas, the entryways, the restrooms. So LED lights throughout the fieldhouse facility."

The final component will be an upgrade of the the 10-year old floor, which will be sanded, resurfaced and painted. Mounting layers of wax over the years have turned the white lines yellow, Schmiesing noted.

"The logos will be reprinted. We'll still have the Dean White Court on the floor. We'll probably incorporate the WBL logo," he said.

The floor will be emblazoned with an updated bulldog logo.

"It's the same logo that's being used right now throughout the district on our school letterhead. It's the face of the bulldog with the red tongue," he said.

School officials had decided to maintain - and enhance - the fieldhouse and football stadium after hearing from a number of residents who spoke at community meetings and responded to a community survey in 2018 in favor of keeping both facilities.

"There's a lot of people that definitely have that recognition. That's one of the main places, along with our football stadium, that people are accustomed to coming and visiting and watching varsity athletics," Schmiesing said about the enduring appeal of the 1939 fieldhouse and 1941 football stadium. "We've also held graduations inside that (fieldhouse)."

Other improvements to the fieldhouse and football stadium are planned as part of the forthcoming school building project.

"We do have plans to add that locker room facility to the north side of the fieldhouse that would serve both football and basketball so that will be a nice enticement to our athletic program," Schmiesing said.