Writer / Cathy Wendorff
It’s not just another athletic facility, the 59,500-square-foot Student Activity Center (SAC) was designed for everyone and provides an asset for the Center Grove community. The concept of having a large student activity center was a 20-year expansion project in the making for the Center Grove School Corporation, according to Superintendent Richard Arkanoff. As the corporation grew, and continues to grow, the need for more space became vital for clubs, after-school practices, teacher meetings, PE activities, athletics, and the overcrowded-unsafe weight room.
Providing flexibility for multiple purposes was the focus for the layout, which includes a 200-meter track surrounding four basketball courts, an elevated walking track and a state-of-the-art 8,000 square foot weight room Discussing the facility highlights, Superintendent Arkanoff says the six-lane track was key, and he is looking forward to having competitions when a timing system gets installed.
“My favorite point of the facility is the suspended walking/running track, and I love the fact that we open that up for the community,” Arkanoff says. “It’s good for the community to take advantage of that especially on there really cold winter days.”
He regularly walks in the mornings and evenings and made a Super Step Challenge to faculty and White River Township residents to get moving and use the SAC during public hours: Monday- Friday 5:00 a.m.to 6:30 a.m. and Monday-Thursday 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Register at www.centergrove.k12.in.us/SUPERSTEP to get started.
CGHS Student and Robotics team leader, Madison Schnurpel, is excited about the possibilities that this modern superstructure has to offer.
“This facility will allow us to host robotics competitions that is for the varsity level, which is called (FRC),” Schnurpel says. “First Robotics Competition is the high school level of robotics, it’s the big 120-pound robots. This allows us to have the pits where people work on the robots in this room and the actual tournament in the Vandy Gym, which we have never been able to do. That’s really fantastic because it allows us to expand our impact and really draw the community in and invite them to see what we do at the high school level on competitions.”
The new addition has a sleek contemporary design and includes a transformed Hall of Fame corridor lined with former excellent student-athletes displayed in newly mounted photos. Superintendent Arkanoff discussed future plans to add a large Trojan Statue centerpiece at the SAC entrance, which will be illuminated from the top with “Center Grove” on the ground encircling the statue. The school corporation is looking for donor support to fund the project. The statue will have room for only four sponsor plaques, so interested persons can contact the Superintendent for more information.
Most importantly, the school board and project leaders are proud that the nearly $10 million CGHS Student Activity Center and weight room did not impact the tax rate for White River Township residents. To learn more, visit centergrove.k12.in.us/activitycenter.
