MUNCIE, Ind. — After beginning construction more than a year ago and a few supply chain issues due to COVID-19, Delta High School is ready to show off its nearly $6 million fitness center and several other improvements made to the school.
The state-of-the-art fitness center spans 37,000-square-feet and two stories within the school. As students started using the space this fall, administrators said they are thrilled with the new area.
Part of “Project 20,” the fitness center expands beyond an upgraded weight room and new indoor track area, with the hope to better the lives of students after a school year challenged by COVID-19.
“It’s been something that we’re quite proud of, and we should be proud,” said Principal Chris Conley. “I still look over my shoulder when I walk into the new fitness center, wondering if I’m really at Delta High School, because it is just so different from what we had before, in a great way.”
The Star Press was able to tour the new space earlier this week and speak with administrators about its future impact on students. Here’s a look inside of the fitness center and what is up next for the school:
A growing need for larger facilities
Within the past few years, Delta High School has received some updates to its gyms and science labs. But even after that, former Superintendent Reece Mann told The Star Press back in summer 2020 that other facilities were being maxed out.
With a continued focus on students’ social and emotional well-being, Project 20 would bring even more updates to the school. Financed by a $10 million bond issue, the project included several items, from a nearly $6 million fitness center to more spaces to learn in the commons area.
This Tuesday, Conley told The Star Press that many of Delta’s athletic spaces hadn’t been updated since 1974, and in 2020, they were becoming too small and too outdated for sufficient use.
“When you look at our athletic facilities, our weight room was deficient by anybody’s standards. Space wise, it was just too small,” Conley said. “The locker room facilities, we were very cramped.”
PREVIOUSLY: Delta High School starts construction on a nearly $6 million fitness center
The school’s main gym and auxiliary gym were also becoming cramped, as several sports teams had to share the area at one time. And when visiting teams came to play, they had to make long trips around the school to reach their facilities.
Once Project 20 was approved, Mann and Tyce Stebbins, Del-Com’s director of grounds and project manager, began working with architect Matt Mayol of Odle McGuire Shook to make the vision a reality.
More than a year later, the two-story, 37,000-square-foot fitness center now includes an upgraded weight room; new locker rooms; a classroom for future enhancements to curriculum, including a U.S. Army’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program; new athletic training office; wrestling room; and an indoor track area that has curtains for batting cages and golf simulators; and storage supplies for buildings and grounds.
While the fitness center is the largest part of Project 20, Delta High School received several other upgrades, all which are nearly complete.
When walking into the high school’s commons area, there are now “learning stairs,” which look like bleachers, and are to be used as an extension of the classroom. This area also has charging outlets for students’ Chromebooks, and a coffee shop along the wall.
Lockers within the commons area were also updated, and now stand at 42 inches tall. The units include a counter top, which allows students to work and communicate before class. The lockers are also wider than before, allowing them to store more items. With the locker units right next to the lunch room, Conley said making them a shorter height has increased supervision.
“The answer hasn’t been, ‘What can we do to cut a cost?’ or, ‘What can we do to cut a corner?'” Conley said. “In the end, the question has always been, ‘What is in the best interest of our students?'”
A look inside the new fitness center
There are several new spaces within the 37,000-square-foot fitness center, including larger locker rooms for the football team and girls basketball team, a training room, a classroom, easily accessed areas for visiting teams and plenty of storage space.
One of the biggest changes came to the weight room though, which was formerly located where the girls locker room now stands. Before, it could hold maybe 15 to 20 athletes. Now, about 100 can fit at one time, from gym class to sports teams.
“About 120 kids during the school day, before we ever talk about extracurriculars, are in a space like this, and we anticipate those numbers to continue to grow,” Conley said.
Along with several weight stations that hold brand new equipment, the room also has different activity stations, including treadmills and a turf strip for agility drills.
EARLIER: Reece Mann steps down as Del-Com superintendent to focus on health
Tilmon Clark, athletic director at Delta, told The Star Press that before the renovation, it was a struggle just to fit two sports teams in the room at once. Now, he’s seeing more teams taking advantage of the space.
“We’re talking about a football team wanting to workout, and then the girls tennis team also wants come work, out now they can,” Clark said. “That’s pretty nice for me, as the athletic director, to be able to say, ‘Yes, you can do that.'”
Conley noted that the weight room was a major goal of former Superintendent Mann, who stepped down in summer 2021 to focus more on his health as he battles a rare form of bile duct cancer. Already, other school corporations are beginning to tour the facility.
On the upper floor of the fitness center, a new indoor track facility was also created. On the inside of the track, there’s adjustable curtains for several teams to practice within, and the space includes plenty of natural light.
Conley said the large windows were no accident, as Delta High School rarely saw natural light back in the 1970s. The windows look directly out onto the school’s sports arenas for a perfect view of football games. The space can be used for more than athletics too, from marching band practice to Future Farmers of America (FFA) activities and other events.
Earlier, The Star Press reported that when the U.S. Department of Education started to award PEP grants (Physical Education Program) to schools, most awards ranged from $100,000 to $300,000.
With a budget of nearly $6 million, Delta was able to go above and beyond what other larger schools have within their fitness centers, and industry expert Dan Green of Heartline Fitness Systems called it extraordinary.
“I think it made sense to everybody involved to not be extravagant. I don’t think this is extravagant, I think it’s it’s workable. I think it’s going to be used completely,” Conley said. “I think it was the ability to look five to 10 years down the road and say,’This is what we need in the future.'”
Students and athletes alike began to use the new fitness center at the beginning of the school year, and already, it’s easy to see there excitement.
With COVID-19 creating many mental and emotional barriers for students as they deal with a global pandemic while trying to learn, Clark, Conley and Superintendent Greg Kile agreed that the new spaces are what many of them needed.
“A space like this, I think creates a sense of pride and belonging. “There’s some energy around getting to be a part of a school building, a school family, with these kinds of opportunities,” Kile said. “That spills over into every other aspect of high school, I would argue.”
Expanding beyond athletics
While the fitness center provides new areas and equipment to students attending Delta, Conley and Kile said the renovations are for much more than just sports.
Project 20 and the additions that took place before it are to attract all types of potential students, but most importantly, it’s to enhance the lives of the ones already there.
“I think success breeds success. If they’re having a good experience, the rest of those questions will take care of themselves,” Kile said. “I would argue what we’re most excited about right now is watching the students that are here right now thrive and enjoy this space and other spaces as well. It’s a blessing to be given that gift.”
As athletic director, Clark typically interacts with sports teams, but after COVID-19, he said the fitness center also creates a mental edge for all students as they explore and use the new space.
It might take years to see how the new equipment impacts athletes physically, but already, Clark is seeing teams and students using the space that might not have been able to use it before, due to the facility’s small size.
“I’ve heard many times how grateful our students are for this, because they had to work out in an area that maybe wasn’t as sufficient as this,” Clark said. “Having them recognize how thankful and grateful they are for a facility like this. I think that speaks volumes for how good the facility actually is.”
With all aspects of Project 20 nearly complete, Kile told The Star Press a ribbon cutting ceremony and grand opening event for the public will be held soon. Already, Del-Com is looking at its next round of improvements.
There are some flooring needs across the district, and the school system hopes to update all classrooms from chalkboards to whiteboards, Kile said. The football field’s turf also needs and upgrade, and Conley added that Delta’s choir and band rooms are going to be upgraded in the future, as both programs continue to grow.
As Kile transitioned from his previous role of director of curriculum and student services to superintendent this school year, he credits Mann for his vision for Del-Com as the project wraps up.
“I continue to marvel at the way he led us in this particular space, and all of this, in my view, is his vision,” Kile said. “I don’t think we’d be here.”
The completion of the fitness center has been an emotional one for those involved, especially now that students are able to use it.
“We were dealing with a building that was renovated in ’90s, and renovations were done to make it occupied, they weren’t done necessarily to enhance. They did what they had to do, and what they could do,” Conley said. “Our 2018 in our 2020 renovations have really enhanced and created spaces where our students can succeed, and to watch that develop has been tremendous.”
Charlotte Stefanski is a reporter at The Star Press. Contact her at 765-283-5543, cstefanski@muncie.gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @CharStefanski.
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