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East Tech players take to new floor (video)

CMSD NEWS BUREAU
12/9/2015
 
The East Tech High School basketball program has reached high levels in recent years, but until recently its home floor was strictly low quality.

CMSD has rectified the situation, replacing an old rubber floor with a new wooden surface. The District also put in new backboards and retractable bleachers, painted the walls and installed a better sound system; a new scoreboard is on the way.

The boys and girls varsity teams played games on the floor for the first time Dec. 5, and both were victorious.
 
CMSD-TV’s Shannon Kantner gets the team’s reaction to the gym makeover.

The rubber floor, considered state of the art in the 1970s, was cracked and had grown slippery. The surface would not hold paint. The older bleachers sometimes balked when pulled out or pushed in; parts were hard to find.

The project, including removal of the old floor, started during the summer and has cost nearly $600,000. The funds came from Issue 4, a $200 million bond issue that voters approved last year for school construction and renovation.

“We’ve been wanting to get at that floor for several years,” said Gary Sautter, the District’s deputy chief of capital projects. “The passage of Issue 4 gave us the financial opportunity.”