On June 19th 2008 Wayland students and teachers said goodbye not only to the seniors of ’08, but also to the field house as they knew it. The field house has been under renovation since the middle of summer to create a more suitable environment for athletics. Changes to the field house include a rubber basketball court, a new track, new lighting, and new bleachers.

But perhaps the most significant change will be the layout of the building. Everything will be turned 90 degrees, with the main basketball court facing the main entrance of the field house rather than the wrestling room. This new set up will create flexibility for many different sporting events. Since a second basketball court will run the opposite direction alongside the bottom of the main court, there will be much more room for wrestling tournaments and the popular dodge ball tournaments.

Along with making playing sports more enjoyable, the new field house will be much better for fans as well. There will be new bleachers on either side of the basketball court, each 6 ft tall, much shorter than the old bleachers. They will be movable too, providing seating options behind either one of the basketball hoops during large events.

An improved basketball court is one of the main reasons for the field house reconstruction. The old basketball court was wooden and the side court was concrete, but soon both courts will be rubber. Zack Miles, a junior and member of the boys’ basketball team says, “The old floor was very slick and hard to make quick cuts on. It was too slippery and it was not in good shape. I’m excited for the new court. I think it will improve playing.”

Although Miles expresses optimism about the new surface, not everyone shares these feelings. Carolyn Hanifin, a junior and member of the girl’s varsity basketball team says, “Even though I haven’t seen the new court, I don’t think I’m going to like it. I liked the wooden one we had before, and I know I am not going to like the rubber. The old court symbolized Wayland basketball, and I cannot imagine playing our games on the new court.”

Not only is the basketball court getting redone but the track is as well. According to runner Kathryn Washek, the track needed a lot of work. “I’m so pumped for the new track because the old one was horrible. It gave me and so many other people shin splints! The new one was definitely necessary. I’m actually going to be excited to go to track practices this year.”

Another runner, Izzy Stern, also had negative feelings about the old track. “I thought it used to be pretty bad, mainly because the basketball hoop jutted out into the middle of the lanes. It caused some pretty dangerous collisions. I think we can only go up from there.”

Athletes from multiple sports will be affected by this new change, so all hope it will be successful. According to Mr. Parseghian, the new field house was to be ready by October 19th, but because of a late start, the completion date is now December 1st. Complications with hanging the new basketball hoops from the convex ceiling also increased the delay. The architects are currently researching ways to hang the hoops. This problem also kept the builders from putting down the floor and track because the big machinery needed to hang the hoops can’t go on the new floor.