City and School district officials held a groundbreaking ceremony at 4 p.m. Thursday for the construction of a new “joint-use” gymnasium at Dana Middle School.
The long-discussed gym will go into construction next month with a target of opening in November or December, 2010. (Story continues below video.)
Get the Flash Player to see this content. The 8,700 square-foot building will be situated on the east side of the school property in the open area to the north of the school parking lot on First Ave. It will include telescopic bleachers, a full-size basketball court, two cross corts, a home/visitor electronic scoreboard, office space, restrooms and exterior basketball court.
Artist rendering of gymnasium to be built in 2010 at Dana Middle School.
The state is putting up about 50% of the funding for the gym, or up to $1.5 million, with the City putting up about 25% and the Arcadia Unified School District responsible for the remaining 25% and acting as the primary agency for the project.
The joint-use concept is a requirement in order to be eligible for the state funding grant, for which the City and School District jointly applied well before the current budget challenges
The school district will have first dibs on the gym during school hours (weekdays from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.) and the City gets priority scheduling on weeknights (5 p.m. – 10 p.m.), weekends, and summertime.
Projections show that additional parking is not necessary and therefore has not been included.
The project is out to bid with a bid opening scheduled for October 29, with construction starting in December and continuing for one year. Update Nov. 19: Because the winning bid came in lower than budgeted, the savings will be spent to air condition the gym.