The makeover of Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School’s new gymnasium is fit for champions. The VASJ boys’ basketball team had their eyes set on state championship this season and with a grueling schedule, they met their target with a win on March 28, 2015 against Lima Central Catholic, 63-50 making them Division III State Champions. Congratulations to the Vikings who joined Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (six) and Middletown (seven) as the only teams in Ohio history to win six or more titles, while becoming the first team to win a crown in all four divisions. A congratulations also to the 100th career victory for Coach Babe Kwasniak at his alma mater.
In July 2014, VASJ High School decided to move forward with a seating and athletic equipment replacement that transformed their look entirely. The upgrades were in the planning stage for the Vikings for nearly three years. It started when local businessman and alumni, Neil Sawicki contacted FEC asking for assistance. FEC stayed in contact with Neil throughout the project planning phase assisting with alumni meetings to discuss seating layouts and options as well as funding for the renovation and replacement. FEC provided proposal drawings with sample layouts for Neil to share with potential donors.
In early 2014, Nate Zavorek, the Vikings current Athletic Director, contacted FEC saying the project was ready to move forward. We worked with Nate to finalize what he and the alumni ultimately wanted in the seating layout and re-designed the seating to meet their requirements. They wanted enough room for spectators to walk behind both the scorer’s table and the team chairs on the floor. VASJ set the end court bleachers back for the safety of the players and went from portable backstops to two new main court Gared single posts backstops that are front braced with 4000+ Collegiate Breakaway Goals and blue pro-mold padding that opened end court site lines. The overarching goal of the project was to give the Vikings gymnasium the feel of an arena with seating on all sides of the court.
With a net seating of 1308, the Vikings maximized their space with two Hussey Seating Company Maxam26 Series bleacher banks for their Home and Visitors’ sides, both free standing with rear guardrails for maximum safety of patrons. To add to the arena feel, and multi-functional use of the gymnasium, under the basketball backstop and facing the gymnasium’s stage, there is another Maxam26 bleacher with 9 tiers that is attached to the wall.
At the stage, a Maxam+, manual Telescopic Platform with four tiers was installed with transition steps. The platform is multi-functional, being used as stairs to the stage as well as a place for VIP seating with chairs purchased by a sponsor.
The original concrete seating in the balcony was given new life with Hussey’s CourtSide Seats, aisle rails, and aisle steps. The original balcony seating had wood planks/benches to sit on attached to concrete risers. The wood planks were removed and the concrete risers and treads were painted grey. Hussey Seating Company’s CourtSide Seat Modules were directly installed onto the concrete for a more comfortable and visually appealing seating option.
See before, during and after photos below.
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