Skip to main content

Open House for Buckeyes' new facility

By JOE DODD

The new $2.3 million Gilmer High School Field House will debut to the public on Sunday, May 20 at an open house from 3-5 p.m.

The 16,000-square-foot building is located just north of Buckeye Stadium, and can be accessed from Bradford Street. RPR Construction Co., Inc., of Tyler was general contractor for the project, while Thacker/Davis Architect Inc. of Longview designed the cinder-block and brick building.

The building, new equipment and furnishings, along with the parking lot cost approximately $1.85 million. An additional $450,000 was spent on dirt work preparation for the building and any future expansion of the high school.

The old field house, originally constructed in 1962, featured only 3,500 square feet, along with another 1,500 in a metal building. Plumbing problems, frequent staph infections, and a leaky roof were common concerns for the approximately 170 student-athletes and more than a dozen coaches that used the facility.

The new facility includes several new features including a foyer with several large trophy cases, a large meeting room, an athletic department secretary’s office, and a separate coach’s locker room with showers.

The new facility sports three locker rooms, a training room, an equipment storage/laundry area, and a weight room which looks out onto the stadium. All areas are considerably larger than the previous areas in the old building. "It’s twice as big as the other one," commented Traylor about the weight room. "We have 75 kids in first period athletics right now, and we can work them all out in the weight room at the same time. In the past, we had to split the kids up and use different kinds of weight workouts we really didn’t want to do, just so we could get all the kids in the weight room."

According to Traylor, the expanded training area for head athletic trainer Steve York might be the most important upgrade in the new building. "We have a lot more space for treating people. We have four training tables now, and we have a whole room set up just for rehab. It’s going to save our kids a lot of money by not having to go to Longview or Tyler for their rehab. They can rehab right there in our own building. Now the finest trainer in the state of Texas has one of the finest training rooms in the state of Texas." Traylor also praised the expanded locker rooms. "Last years freshmen team had 65 players sharing 30 half-lockers. Now we have 50 full lockers for each locker room."

Lack of space has been a problem since Traylor took over the Buckeyes’ program in 2000 and turned it into one of the most successful in the state. The Buckeyes have a 71-14 overall record under Traylor, and won the school’s first state championship in 2004.

With the recent additions of a new artificial turf field, new concession stand and bathrooms, and soon-to-be expanded stadium seating, the Buckeyes now have the facilities to match their record. "Our facilities are second to none. We are very proud of it. We plan on taking care of it, and make it last as long as that last building lasted."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How Gilmer came to be known as the Buckeyes

By JOE BLOUNT Long before the birth of Christ the buckeye was known to have medicinal value. The nutlike seed, found abundantly on shrubs here in East Texas, first got its notoriety as a curative agent from the Greco-Roman culture. Their god of medicine was Aesculapian. Even today botanical scientists place the buckeye within the genus Aesculus, recognize it as a member of the horse-chestnut family and are still highly puzzled by its many and varied phytochemicals. “Phyto,” as you may recall from biology, simply means “from plants.” There are a great number of antioxidants and maintenance chemicals found in the buckeye’s pulp. There are also many toxic compounds and several of the substances are downright poisonous. Early Greek docs would skin the buckeye and boil the endosperm, producing a brew that was taken internally. Most often, just as the case may still be today, the cure inevitably turned out to be worse than the disease. So now, we see that the buckeye is poisonous. We also b...

Padilla Poll Coaches 2023 All State Team

Padilla Poll Coaches 2023 All State Team 4A D-II Offensive Player of the Year Sr Will Henderson Gilmer RB Defensive Player of the Year Sr Aron Bell Gilmer LB Coach of the Year Alan Metzel Gilmer 1st Team Special Jr Brayden Pate Gilmer K Jr Ty WellMan Sanger P Sr Bryan Ramirez Ferris P Jr Josiah Groeneweg Glen Rose Ret 2nd Team Special Sr Jax Rodriguez Lago Vista K Sr Jack Atkinson Orange Grove Ret Sr Jadyn Forbes Sweetwater Ret Padilla Poll Coaches 2023 All State Team 4A D-II 1st Team Offense Sr Ozzie Andrade Bellville OL Sr Spencer Murphy Gilmer OL Sr Caden Romo Wimberley OL Jr Lucas Cano Gilmer OL Sr Jarom Pilcher Gilmer OL Sr Camden Raymond Glen Rose TE Sr Ta'Erik Tate Gilmer WR Jr Brendan Webb Gilmer WR Sr Jaydon Smith Ingleside WR Sr Dre'lon Miller Silsbee WR Jr Jos...

Video: Gilmer Buckeyes seeking community support to acquire championship rings