By CARRIE DEBRONE
Kitchener Citizen
The new $2-million gymnasium at St. Anne Catholic School in Kitchener is completed and being used.
Construction of the new 3,300-square foot gym started last fall and was scheduled for completion by Dec. 2011. It was held up for several months by the specialized removal procedures necessary to get rid of the old gym’s asbestos tile flooring.
For several years, parents at St. Anne School, located at 250 East Ave., had lobbied both the local Waterloo Catholic District School Board and the province to replace the old gym because it was too small to house the whole school population at once and was not accessible to students who use wheelchairs.
      Construction of the new gym has not only provided the school, constructed in 1947, with a large exercise space, new change rooms and sports equipment storage, but the project also provided an elevator adjacent to the gym, making most of the school fully accessible.
     The school had to give up about half of a classroom in order to get the space needed for the elevator, however, a new classroom plan has accommodated all 400 students at the school and the half classroom is now providing much needed office space for its French teachers.
     The new gym also provides a ‘Murphy’ style stage that folds up into the gym wall when not in use and will allow the gym to be used for school community events and arts productions.
     The gym is equipped with electronically lifting basketball nets and the latest in solar lighting, featuring six solar tube lights that, on sunny days, replace some of the gym’s fluorescent lighting. The solar lights can be turned off to make the gym totally dark when necessary.
     It also is equipped with a built in sound system that can be hooked to earphone amplifiers for seniors or others who are hard of hearing when they come to watch a performance at the school, and to the hearing aids of students with hearing problems.
   School council purchased a new wooden podium for the stage as well as a series of wooden boxes to be used for stage displays.
    The re-build project also included a new parking lot at the front of the school, which gives it much more presence on the street and, is also used by St. Anne’s Church parishioners on Sundays.
     A surprise to the school, the board also provided a new St. Anne School sign that has been installed between the street and the parking lot in front of the school.
     “It’s raised our profile. Now we look just like every other school,” Principal Rod Eckert said.
     Landscaping will be completed this spring.
     “We are really looking forward to the volleyball and basketball seasons,” Eckert said, explaining that St. Anne’s students had to borrow gym time from Canadian Martyrs School for its sports programs in the past.
     “This is a space for the kids to really be proud of,” he said, adding that he and a superintendent were there to watch the first time the gym was used by students.
     “One of our primary classes were the first students to use the new gum and the little girls went to the middle of the circles marked on the floor and just started jumping up and down and hugging each other. It was a great moment,” he said.
     “I think the older kids are really proud too. They’ve got a really good gym space now. Having a large space where the whole school can meet together builds community. We’ve had four assemblies in just the last two weeks,” he laughed.
  The school is looking forward to showcasing its gym to parents and the community during its May 24 Family Fun Night.