Oglethorpe County High School’s gym has a new look.
The floor was recently refinished and the modern Patriot head logo is now prominent at center court.
The gym was remodeled in 2015, but the floor was never refinished. The goal of this project was to brighten the gym with a lighter wood stain and to update the court with modern Patriot artwork, said Paul Thiel, the director of operations for the Oglethorpe County School System.
“I’m so excited about how good it looks compared to what it looked like beforehand,” Thiel said.
He said the Patriot head logo better maintains the brand of OCHS than the old “OC” lettermark. He hopes the new logo will help “bring a little bit more pride into the stadium” next season.
“It has kind of taken a while for everyone to get on board with that as our identity,” OCHS principal Bill Sampson said. “I think when folks come in our gym, they’ll go, ‘Hey that’s who we are.’ So it’s a huge step in the right direction.”
The project cost $17,200 and took Precision Momentum Contracting two weeks to complete. The work was finished June 7.
An important part of the project for Thiel was preserving the uniqueness of the gym floor.
The planks in the hardwood at OCHS are only 1½ inches wide, as opposed to the planks in standard basketball floors, which Thiel said are typically closer to 2½ inches.
While the width of the planks doesn’t affect performance, Thiel opted for the lighter finish to show the detail of the wood.
The floor will need two more coats of polyurethane in six months to “make it shine a little bit more,” Thiel said. After that, it will require regular preventative maintenance, with the vinyl artwork lasting for 10 years.
OCHS co-athletic director and girls basketball coach Brianna Dickens said it’s a “great update to one of our major facilities that puts an emphasis on the culture that has been created.” She said the girls basketball team has been practicing on the court this month.
“It brightens everything up a lot,” Dickens said. “I think it shows the athletes, current and past, that all of our programs who use the gym have been accomplishing great things and have something to take pride in and take care of now.”
Thiel said the floor resurfacing was the project he was most proud of in his first year in his position.
“I just think it helps build school pride,” he said. “It’s like having something to be proud of, something to look forward to play on, something that speaks to who we are as Patriot Nation.”