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Gymnasium Floor Replacement to Delay Whitefish Home Matches

Volleyball practices will be held at Whitefish Middle School and Glacier High School

By Beacon Staff
The Whitefish High School gymnasium. Beacon file photo.

Crews are installing a new floor in the gymnasium at Whitefish High School for the second time in as many years after problems began popping up with the old flooring, forcing the school to delay home volleyball matches and classes in the gym until October.

Whitefish Schools Superintendent Heather Davis Schmidt said the reinstallation was originally scheduled for this summer but was delayed due to the moisture content of the replacement wood. Crews will now begin installing the full process of installing, finishing and curing the new flood this week, but the project will not be completed before school begins later this month.

The delay means that students and teams will not be able to access the gym until mid-October, Davis Schmidt said. Volleyball practices will be held at Whitefish Middle School and Glacier High School.  Volleyball players will be bussed to Glacier and back as a team. All scheduled home volleyball matches through September have been changed to away matches.

“Ensuring a high quality, safe, and long-lasting gym floor is our highest priority and we appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding,” she said.

Shortly after installation of the new gymnasium floor at the renovated high school over two years ago, problems began emerging with both the finish and the performance of the floor, according to administrators. Staff worked with the manufacturer and site contractors on a plan for replacement of the floor under the manufacturer’s warranty and at no additional cost to the district. The replacement process began immediately after school dismissed in June, Davis Schmidt said.

However, due to some unusual weather in the valley in late June, the moisture content of the replacement wood has been too high to start the reinstallation of the new floor, according to the superintendent.