Ernest Clemons Jr.
Published: November 22, 2006
The Pirates basketball team has started strong. However, Pensacola students may not have experienced the excitement of a home game so far this year.
The first several home games have been played in Milton.
After Hurricane Ivan, several buildings on campus were damaged, including building 3, the Lou Ross Center gym.
Pirates coach Bill Swanson is ready to begin playing in the newly renovated Lou Ross Center.
“[Renovation] was already planned for every building. There is a cycle for every building on campus to be renovated. This was probably little overdue, but the hurricane made it even worse,” Swanson said.
The Pensacola Pirates are ready to bring the heat to their newly renovated home.
“We are real excited. We are hoping to actually come in and get some practice, hopefully this weekend or early next week. I’m hoping I still can play the Thanksgiving Tournament here, but it’s up for grabs,” Swanson said.
By Nov. 15, workers had removed the construction barrels and yellow caution tape. However, there were two trash cans catching water from the ceiling from the hard rain as the engineers and architects were doing their walk through.
“They are behind schedule from originally what was planned, but that always happens on construction projects, so I’m not totally stunned that we are behind, especially when you are renovating a building,” Swanson said.
“We knocked down walls and put up brand new walls,” said Wes Olson, Superintendent with Spiegel Construction Company.
The new gymnasium will be fully renovated to include a new ceiling, new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, new wood flooring system with enhanced floor markings, and a new paint on walls, said PJC architect Michael J. Hayse.
“The heating and cooling was really bad in there, and we had to keep the temperature really cold,” Swanson said.
The Ross Center will also now have a cushioned floor to reduce the risk of injuries basketball players have faced in the past.
“[With] the cushioned floor, we are going to see a tremendous difference from our athletes. In the past the men’s team had a lot of injuries; the women’s team had a lot of surgeries. It was a hard surface to play on, and if it got a little humid it got slippery. That’s why we had to keep it so cold in there all the time,” Swanson said.
The men’s and women’s basketball teams will also have new showers and toilet fixtures, a new scoreboard, new wood lockers, lounge areas, lavatory space and dressing and locker rooms.
Other interior changes include enhanced health facilities.
“There is going to be an in-house outpatient rehab center in there which is going to be fabulous,” Swanson said.
“The campus clinic will be enlarged and fully renovated,” Hayse said. “The clinic will include a waiting room, two treatment rooms, offices and toilet rooms.”
The pool area has been fully renovated for swimming patrons, with an increase of showers and toilet fixtures.
“The swimming pool has its own lockers for those people who swim. You get a lot of senior citizens that use that a lot of times,” said Swanson.
Renovations are not limited to interior changes.
“The front entranceway is going to be given a dynamic look,” Swanson said. Changes include a new exterior canopy, along with new flooring and a new arched ceiling in the entrance lobby area, according to Hayse.
“Also included in the renovation of the gymnasium is abatement and removal of hazardous building materials,” Hayse said.
Formerly the Ross Center was 48,948 square feet, but now with its renovation it has an additional 2,285 square feet.