FOUNTAIN VALLEY : High School’s Gym Is Back in the Game

Sounds of bouncing basketballs and screeching sneakers echoed inside Fountain Valley High School’s gymnasium--a sound that hasn’t been heard since vandals broke in and flooded the hardwood floor with a fire hose five months ago.

The floor was damaged beyond repair and was replaced at a cost of $160,000. As a result, athletes have not been able to practice in the home court since mid-July.

No one has been arrested in connection with the vandalism.

Students were so excited on Monday to have their gym back, they “walked around and oohed and aahed,� Principal Gary Ernst said. “They’re proud of the new gym.�

The school’s athletic teams have had to practice at churches and high schools, usually in the evenings. Now, they practice after school and hold home games in their gym.

“It feels great. We’re so sick and tired of using other people’s gyms,� said senior Gina Ybarra, who took a break from practice with the varsity girls’ basketball team.

Other athletes agreed.

“It’s nice to finally have our own place,� said sophomore Barry Reid, a member of the junior varsity boys’ basketball team.

Inside the gym Monday, workers placed new drinking fountains as coaches put their teams to work. Athletic director Mike Henigan stood on the sidelines and pointed to black shoe marks on the shiny new hardwood floor.

“It turned out great--better than what it was before,� Henigan said. “It was a pain to go through, but it’s everything we hoped for.�

Henigan said scheduling practices elsewhere had been a nightmare. But it didn’t seem to have affected the school’s basketball and volleyball teams, he said.

“It’s kind of made them work together more to have had to go through adversity,� he said.

The community also rallied to repair the gym. Local businesses and their employees as well as students’ parents helped to raise thousands of dollars to help pay for the cost of a $25,000 insurance deductible.

Ernst said more than $27,000 has been raised and donations are still being received.

Because of the outpouring of community support, the school board of the Huntington Beach Union High School District decided to use district money to pay the deductible so the donated money could be used to buy extras for the gym.

Ernst said a $13,000 lighting system was installed, the gym’s walls were repainted, a Baron crest, the school’s mascot, was emblazoned on center court, broken drinking fountains were replaced and doors were repaired.

To prevent another break-in, an alarm system was donated by a local security company.

With the gym reopened, Ernst said, “it makes the school complete. It’s a great way to start the new year.�

A dedication ceremony is planned on Jan. 21 beginning with a reception for donors and others who helped raise money at 5:30 p.m. The ceremony will be held before the 7 p.m. varsity boys’ basketball game.