Upon returning to school from summer break, P.E. students
were told the locker rooms were under construction. Instead of changing in the gyms, students switched into their P.E. uniforms in two murky portables, with stale air and muddy floors from the rainy season. They wait for the day to move back into the locker rooms, which had continually been delayed since October.

Paly students and teachers were excited to move back into the locker rooms the week of finals, but delays in completion caused them to remain closed for construction another week.

For the last six months the locker rooms have been closed while construction has continued at a slow pace. Paly P.E. students have been forced to change in portables outside of the Big Gym since school started in August. Locker assignments were handed out to students who brought a lock to their PE final this week; however, without access to the new locker rooms, those locks remain in student’s backpacks and carrying cases.

Since the end of last school year in June, when workers moved into both the Big and Small Gyms, construction has been underway to rebuild the locker rooms and bring the buildings up to current fire and safety codes. In a walk through interview with Physical Education Instructional Supervisor and P.E. teacher Linda Hildreth, the Voice went into the new locker rooms and explored the remodeled buildings the week of December 13th.

The first stop was the Big Gym. Entering through the side door by the pool, we were greeted by large concrete floors, covered with dust, pipes, and worker’s tools. Hildreth explained that the floors were going to be painted green. At the time of our visit, the workers were going through the punch list, a list of last minute details, before they began cleaning up and finishing the construction. In the male teachers’ office, one of the crewmembers was working installing fixtures on the walls, as the heat in the building was being tested.

The punch list was completed during winter break, the last two weeks of December, allowing the flooring, including new carpeting in the trainer’s and teachers’ offices, to start being installed. New green lockers replaced the old lockers that were broken and rusty. The floor inside the locker room was also redone; a coarse black metallic surface replaces the old red concrete floors.

According to Hildreth, the new locker room floor increases the grip, an important safety feature when athletes are coming in from the pool or on a rainy day. One of the nicest changes was the shower area, which was completely renovated. New white tiles line the floor and the walls, brightening up the room. New showerheads were also installed. Smoke detectors and emergency lighting were added and updated throughout the facility.

Across the pool, big changes were underway in the Small Gym, as a large overhaul of the girls’ locker room and female teachers’ offices was wrapping up. The new and spacious lockers have doubled in size for the girls. Hildreth explained that the girls will now be able to securely store their backpacks in them. However, the increased volume came at a price, as the girls’ locker room lost approximately 200 lockers. Individual shower units along the sides of the shower area replace the old showers, which used to be a series of circular shower consuls. The shower area was also tiled, matching the boys’ showers. Across the hallway in the teachers’ offices, new paint helped bring in more light. One feature Hildreth is looking forward to is the additional storage space; more cabinets in the office and in an adjoining room as well as in the dance studio were all built in to accommodate the need for space. Minor touch ups were also applied in the small gym, including new bathrooms near the south entrance, a patch up for a giant hole in the wall, and new floorboards. The old floorboards had suffered extensive damage after years of hockey pucks flying into them.

The construction, which was initially supposed to be finished in October, seems to finally be coming to an end. Hildreth explained that according to the newest schedule, the teachers should move into their new offices the week of January 9, while the students would be assigned lockers the week of finals, January 17. However, those dates have since passed, and new dates have been set, which call for a full move in as early as January 24.

Students who wish to get a locker are now required to use a Paly lock. Paly locks, green faced Master Locks, feature a special key entry on the back. This enables teachers with the special key to open the lock. The new lock system is a measure taken to cut down on the number of locks that need to be cut off lockers. These locks can be purchased through the auditor’s office for five dollars.

Once the project is done, Hildreth hopes that construction will begin on a new pool. While the construction plans for the new pool have all been created, Hildreth said the funding for the new pool is still $500,000 short.