(Riverton, WY) – After a couple of weeks of 6 a.m. practice at the Riverton Middle School, the Lady Wolverines were eager to get back into their own gym. Wednesday, incoming head coach Jordan Christensen and her girls took to the newly renovated gymnasium.
The renovation was just over one million dollars. It features a new floor, new adjustable lighting and new, shallower stepped bleachers.
“We started last March after basketball season,” Riverton Activities Director Max Mills said. “First they took out the bleachers, and then the floor.”
The floor was the original maple installed back in 1979 and 1980. The concrete beneath the floor needed some work.
“They had to do some leveling and grinding to fill in ridges and valleys,” Mills said.
The process took the entire summer to complete. The old flooring is stacked in the parking lot east of the Ag Shop in the James H. Moore Career Center.
“They finished installing the new lights, then sanded, painted, and finished the floor,” Mills said.
The new bleachers address a problem for many spectators. The old ones were steep and difficult to traverse for many older fans and those with mobility issues.
Wolverine Gym’s original seating was just over 3,000. That was reduced to 2,800 when they moved the benches and scorer’s table to chairs on the floor.
The new seating capacity is now 2,200.
That won’t be a problem for home volleyball, basketball and wrestling, but it will be a constraint when the Ron Thon Wrestling Tournament is held and for the Class 2-A West Regional Basketball tournament. Those two events routinely reached capacity in previous years.
“It might feel a little more crowded,” Mills said.
Previously, the bleachers opposite the benches went wall to wall. The next ones have open sections at each end.
The Lady Wolverines open the gym for competition on September 9, when they host the Lander Lady Tigers.