AACC’s Facilities Department closed the basketball court in Jenkins Gymnasium for renovations on Nov. 4.
The gym’s floors will be sanded down, new lines on the court will be painted with the Riverhawks logo, and the bleachers will be replaced, according to Athletic Director Duane Herr.
“The bleachers … have been in there for probably 20 years or more,” Herr said. “They’re just older. They don’t function the best that they possibly could. So the newer bleachers will function properly.”
Herr estimated the court will reopen by the start of the spring semester. In the meantime, the women’s and men’s basketball teams are practicing at Severn School’s basketball court and are playing games on their opponents’ courts.
The pull-out bleachers needed replacing, in part, because their wheels would get jammed with the handles, and bolts would get loose. It was “time for an upgrade,” Herr said.
The new bleachers will hold more than 600 people, according to Herr.
The cost to replace the bleachers will be around $100,000, according to Herr. The new lines and sanded-down floors, which were warped from water damage from a leak, will cost $24,682.
“The floor obviously takes out some of the areas that were of concern previously,” Herr said. “So we’ll have a fresh new floor that’s properly seal coated, so you’ll get the traction that … you’d expect
from a gym floor, no sliding around or anything like that.”
The gym also will get a new, first-floor weight room as part of the renovation.
Herr said the renovations “absolutely” affect sports practices, games and classes.
“That’s the downside,” Herr said.
Women’s basketball head coach Lionel Makell said practicing at the high school hasn’t been an issue.
“Some things are out of your control,” Makell said. “We just deal with it.”
Makell, who played basketball at AACC in the 1980s, said the renovations are a positive thing.
“I haven’t seen them yet to be excited, but, I mean, I saw the designs, and any changes that are positive, you know, you get excited,” Makell said.
Ayannah Gorham, a second-year undecided student and guard on the women’s basketball team, agreed.
“I mean, there are gyms all around the county,” Gorham, a returning athlete, said. “You know, different schools we can play at and we … still [have] the same amount of gym time.”
