Health Facilities: The Forgotten Space
How one school’s weight room was transformed into a functional space full of school spirit – in two weeks!
A school’s weight room can be a forgotten aspect in education design. But with focus increasing on the health of the nation’s students and a growing obesity epidemic, these facilities need to be just as functional and comfortable as a classroom.
In the fall of 2012, the Camden County School District in Camden, North Carolina, realized that it was time to modernize the weight room at Camden County High School. Students had become reluctant to utilize it. In order to ignite a spark which would motivate students to use the facility and better their health, the district decided to update and customize the space.
The Experience Required for a Challenging Project
The first step in the weight room overhaul was to choose a suitable partner that could offer all the necessary equipment, and who had the requisite expertise to outfit an environment about which students could be excited. School Specialty was selected because of its experience in the market and its ability to deliver quality products that meet the exacting needs of the school.
School Specialty started by consulting one of their own fitness equipment experts, who helped the team and the school’s administration come up with a design for a completely customized Camden High School weight room – complete with the school’s Bruin logo.
Although the design and overall theme were easy to achieve, the school also had a challenging request: the project needed to be completed in a two-week period in January. Not only was the timeframe tight, but also the weight room would need to stay open to students during the renovation should they could continue their health and fitness work.
This is where School Specialty’s experience and industry reputation came to bear. All deliveries and installations were tightly coordinated by the team’s project management experts. Thanks to these efforts, the project was started on January 2nd and completed on January 15th – less than two weeks later!
Accomplishing a Lot in Two Weeks
The renovation process started at ground level; the existing rubber flooring was no longer suitable for heavy use. New durable flooring was installed that would allow heavy weights to be dropped repeatedly while still providing a low-impact surface for students’ joints. Wall padding, complete with Camden High School lettering, colors, and logo, was then installed.
All of the new equipment is state of the art and visually attractive, creating extra incentive for students to use it. For example, the weight platforms for deadlifts and other floor exercises are constructed of a glossy wood grain material with the Camden Bruin painted on in bright colors. These platforms are similar to those in many first-class collegiate athletics departments, and represent just one instance of an installation in the updated weight room that is both highly useful and pleasing to the eye.
School Specialty’s extensive manufacturer network made procuring a broad range of weightlifting and exercise equipment easy. As is normally the case with renovation projects, some last-minute changes had to be made for certain equipment to work optimally. Again, School Specialty’s experience in these types of projects proved its worth. The modifications were made and new equipment was sent while remaining inside the tight turnaround time.
Once school administrators saw the quality of work in the weight room, they realized that they had forgotten something. They soon followed up with orders for audio and video equipment to fully modernize the facility. Now students could listen to music or watch training and exercise videos while they were working out.
In Print
Delivering a Quality, Modern Space on a Tight Deadline, School Construction News, September-October 2014, page 20
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