Sneak peek @ HMB new gym
- Thread starter GOTF
- Start date
The new facility is located on the downtown campus of the Cabrillo Unified School District's middle school, Cunha, a mile or so from HMBHS. The gym will be shared with a number of Coastside entities. The question becomes: Will all HMBHS volleyball, basketball, wrestling, etc. events be conducted at the Cunha gym?
Construction crews work on the floor in the new Boys and Girls Club of the Coastside gym. The $10 million project is due to be completed in February. John Green / Review
Work remains inside the gym at Cunha Intermediate School. John Green / Review
Anticipation is building for two youth-oriented construction projects in downtown Half Moon Bay as the pieces come together on a new gym on Kelly Avenue and a skate park behind Shoreline Station.
Rocky Raynor, who is serving as the project manager on the skate park project for the Boys and Girls Club, says he is constantly asked by eager skaters when they can try out the new features.
“Every morning they’re saying, ‘Can we go in? Can we go in?’” Raynor said.
Raynor said that the skate park itself — the portion that embodies all the ramps and other features for the skaters to ride — has been finished for six weeks. However, related infrastructure required for the viewing area, such as Americans with Disabilities Act-approved railings, still need to be installed.
“The access was redesigned a bit (due to site conditions) which necessitated the railings,” wrote Half Moon Bay Community Development Director John Doughty in an email to the Review on Monday. “This change (need for railings) was identified by the city about 45 days ago or so.”
The Boys and Girls Club and the city of Half Moon Bay have each worked closely on the project, which was designed by famed Mavericks surfer Zach Wormhoudt.
A few weeks ago, professional skaters from around the Bay Area came to the park to “certify” it. Raynor said the process tests the features to ensure that organizers could hold contests there.
“The professional skaters were very impressed,” Raynor said. “The corrections they’d like to have made are minor.”
One suggestion, Raynor noted, was to eliminate break-ins by simply leaving the facility open 24 hours.
A journalist from a German skating magazine caught wind of the certification and was there capturing footage of the professional skaters.
The railings are not due to be installed until the later part of November, Doughty said. The city is currently working on coming up with a specific date for the ribbon-cutting and official opening of the park. The skaters are planning their own grand opening and want to bring in bands and food.
Meanwhile, the nearby gym on the Cunha Intermediate School campus is due to open in mid-January, said construction manager and Boys and Girls Club board member Ed Watkins.
The $10 million, 18,000-square-foot structure is a joint project of the Cabrillo Unified School District and the Boys and Girls Club of the Coastside and the two entities are funding the project as well. During the school day, the space will be used exclusively by the middle school students, but during other times a divider curtain will designate one half for use by the Boys and Girls Club and the other by the school district.
A basketball court will take up 15,000 square feet, but the space can also be used for a variety of activities such as volleyball or badminton, Watkins noted.
Watkins added that the gym will offer some unique features such as fold-up bleachers that also offer back support and basketball backboards that allow for height adjustment.
Passersby have seen the gym’s seemingly rapid progress over the last few months but there is still interior work that needs to be done.
For example, the gym’s maple floor is inside but currently being acclimated to the temperature before it can be put in place, Watkins said.
A grand opening is being planned for February, which will feature a high school varsity basketball game.
We ask one more time: Will all HMB gym-related events be played there or will the Cougars' campus gym still be utilized much of the time?
http://cams.clarksullivan.com/cunha/
Hope to have all quad games in the new facility. All playoff games there as well. Also, look forward to hosting summer and pre-season tournaments. Will seat about 1200. 875 theater style seats run along sidelines of main court which is 94 ft. in length. 2 Side courts are 84 ft. in length. Bleachers are along baselines of main court. Fantastic sound system, great floor Robbins MVP floor, same floor NBA teams use in their practice facilities. First official event will be Senior night vs. Terra Nova on Feb. 10.
Hope to have all quad games in the new facility. All playoff games there as well. Also, look forward to hosting summer and pre-season tournaments. Will seat about 1200. 875 theater style seats run along sidelines of main court which is 94 ft. in length. 2 Side courts are 84 ft. in length. Bleachers are along baselines of main court. Fantastic sound system, great floor Robbins MVP floor, same floor NBA teams use in their practice facilities. First official event will be Senior night vs. Terra Nova on Feb. 10.
