Powerhouse dream coming true (05/09/03)

When the idea was originally pitched, the Patriot Powerhouse was supposed to be a pole barn with weights in it — a copycat of what had been done at Sheridan High School. Thanks to an outpouring of community support and donations, it will be so much more.

Construction of the powerhouse, which will be built in the corner of the current football and track complex nearest Jay County High School, is slated to begin in June with completion by the end of July.

Jay School Corporation facilities director Ron Krieg said the plans will be presented to the state for approval next week, and a response usually takes about four weeks.

“It won’t take long to build it once we get permission,” said Krieg, “(because of) the type of building that it is. Because all the side walls will be poured in one piece, they’ll do all of that in one day.”

The walls will be the first part of the 40-foot by 100-foot building. They will be six-inch poured concrete walls, with two inches of polystyrene foam on each side.

The walls, valued at $13,000, are being donated by Createc.

From there, Krieg said the walls will need a few days to dry, and then the rest of the construction can begin.

A blue steel roof will cover the structure, which will include an office, men’s and women’s restrooms, and a storage area for equipment used to care for the Jay County sporting facilities. The main area of the building will be the weight room.

And it will be a state-of-the-art weight room, with a focus on equipment for power lifting. It will be filled with $35,000 worth of equipment, which is less than first planned by the community group which undertook the project.

“That’s not enough,” said Dr. Frank Vormohr, a school board member and one of the leaders of the group. “But it’s a start.”

Included in the weight room will be four power racks, 10 different flat, incline or decline benches, a leg press and a host of free weights.

An advantage of the new facility is it will not take anything away from the current weight room within JCHS. All the equipment in the powerhouse will be new.

Several pieces of the new equipment will be on display at JCHS Saturday, during the dinner, speech and silent auction featuring former Indianapolis Colts strength coach Tom Zupancic.

In addition to the benefits of a new weight room, the powerhouse also will help improve the facilities within the current Harold E. Schutz Stadium. All of the equipment and materials currently within the center of the stadium will be moved into the storage area of the powerhouse.

That move will allow the center of the football stadium to be turned into a training area, and possibly a place for more lockers in the future. At present, there is no training room for evaluation of injuries for either team within the stadium.

Krieg said the original plan for the powerhouse called for a 40-foot by 80-foot building. But some measurements showed an extra 20 feet could store all the equipment and bring a great benefit.

“It’s really a good improvement to the facilities, and for the kids,” said Krieg, referring to both the storage room and the weight area. “The coaches and everyone involved in this seem committed to promoting this for all athletes.

“We want it to be used for everybody. Strength works well for everybody in every kind of sport.”

Krieg also said it will be a very efficient building in terms of heating and cooling, mostly because of the thickness of the poured concrete walls.

He said the powerhouse will have an R-factor — a number used to rate insulation — of about 30. He estimated that a common home has an R-factor of 15, and no higher than 20.

Krieg said the building will be equally easy to keep cool during the hot summer months. The heating and cooling of the building will be done by a heat-pump system.

“I can almost believe you’ll be able to heat it with a light bulb,” said Krieg. “It’ll be a very efficient building.

“It’ll hopefully be a very attractive building. It’ll be well built and hopefully last for a long time.”

Shane Hill, Craig Teagle and Bev Arnold — the three coaches most directly involved in the plans for the powerhouse — all expressed their excitement. They all agree that having a new facility should help encourage student-athletes to take an interest in weight lifting.

“The main thing is that the community has shown a commitment to help improve the Jay County athletic programs,” said Teagle, the school’s boys basketball coach. “We’re building something that not only will help our kids athletically, but also something we can have a lot of pride in.”[[In-content Ad]]