How Old Is Your Gym?

BigK72 said:
There’s some great gyms in the WBL/MAC.
St. Henry and Ft. Recovery are very similar. DSJ is classic. Everyone else seems kinda sterile

In the WBL, Celina/OG are a head above the rest of the league. Shawnee, Bath, Elida are still great. St. Marys, Wapak, VW, and Defiance are sterile. Kenton was never good.
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RE: The WBL... Celina's gym is old and nostalgic if you like that. OG is okay and considered great because of the good teams that play there. It wouldn't be great if it were Kenton's home court with a losing team. Defiance's old gym was definitely sterile and was outdated before it opened. Their new gym is the best in the WBL and probably all of NW Ohio. I like Elida's mainly because of the 3,200 seating capacity. Bath's gym for being built in the 1960's is very nice. St. Mary's and Wapak have very nice gyms. Van Wert's is nice but I don't like the 10ft wide aisles that make it look empty when full.
 
Picture of new Defiance Gym...Capacity 2,500 plus a lot of standing room on upper level.
DHS Gym.jpg
 
ShoelessJoe said:
Picture of new Defiance Gym...Capacity 2,500 plus a lot of standing room on upper level.View attachment 14403
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looks like they used the same architect as Central Catholic? I really like this design. Keeps you close to the game but gives you walking around without losing track of the game. And if you have a good arm, you can hit the visitors and make a run for the exit.

What are those blue tubes hanging from the ceiling?
 
CedarBuck92 said:
Not my school, but the old Urbana High School gym had an interesting setup. Stands on only one side. Since the gym floor also served as the stage for the auditorium it appears they occasionally opened the curtains behind the benches and allowed fans to sit in the auditorium seats to watch the game.
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Delphos Jefferson Middle School where the boys varsity team plays.
 

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Delphos St. John's Robert A. Arnzen Gymnasium, a.k.a. The Vatican. First season was 1957-58. It's pretty much all original today.
The color picture is from 2012. The black and white is the other side of the gym in the late '50's during a Senior Class Play.

Here's a History of The Vatican on its 50th season. History, records, notable players, coaches memories, etc... https://www.delphosstjohns.org/History.aspx
 

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BigK72 said:
Any pics of the old Piqua gym? Is it in the old HS downtown? I love looking at the old football stadium(now soccer) whenever I go through there
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It is in the building right next to the soccer field. At least I believe that is where Piqua plays soccer. It looks like a one story building, but when you walk in, you are at the top, the floor actually sits lower than the street level. I looked for old photos, could not find any. They stopped playing there in 1981/1982 time frame.
 
Struthersfan said:
What a spectacular gym.
Has to be one of the best looking gyms in all of Ohio.
(y)(y)(y)
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Seeing that Defiance design as familiar I tracked down some photos of the Sullivan Center in Toledo. Surprised to see it was built in 1997. Thought it newer. The Stroh complex at BGSU follows a similar design, putting BGSU right at the forefront of high school basketball complex design, lol.

They might all have been done by the same people. The one in Defiance was done by a Toledo Burb Engineering group. I think it's a great design. Walk-in is at the concourse level. Ton of room when the seats are pulled back and close seating during games.
Sullivan Center.jpg
Sullivan Center2.jpg
 
DDoubleG said:
thevoice, I went to St .Marys. the old McBroom Gym was pretty cool also.
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That's my old gym too. I never played basketball, but we had a GREAT student section when I was in school for both the boys and the girls. The guys I graduated with beat some really good OG teams and I believe a Jamar Butler Shawnee squad
 
eastisbest said:
looks like they used the same architect as Central Catholic? I really like this design. Keeps you close to the game but gives you walking around without losing track of the game. And if you have a good arm, you can hit the visitors and make a run for the exit.

What are those blue tubes hanging from the ceiling?
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Blue tubes are air ducts for heating - cooling system. The gym is a lot like TCC, but was patterned more after Kettering Fairmont with running track around top level.
 
BigK72 said:
That's my old gym too. I never played basketball, but we had a GREAT student section when I was in school for both the boys and the girls. The guys I graduated with beat some really good OG teams and I believe a Jamar Butler Shawnee squad
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the Broom was a good ole place too.

Funny y'all wouldnt play MSML at the old hangar. That was a small place, no doubt about that, and tickets were tough to get!
 
thavoice said:
the Broom was a good ole place too.

Funny y'all wouldnt play MSML at the old hangar. That was a small place, no doubt about that, and tickets were tough to get!
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I may be too young for the old hanger. I graduated in the early 2000s. I think ML came to us, but I don't remember ever going to ML
 
I will say this:
In sports, I was only intimidated twice.
First was running out onto the field for my first varsity action in game 1 as a FROSH. I was scared to death, and eventually did get knocked out of the game on a blindside hit (from what I was told by the trainer on the sideline when I came to!)
2nd, foul shots at I think it was Van Wert where they had seating behind the basket. I dont know, but all those fans, students I presume, trying to distract you really threw me off.

So I love those places that have seating behind the hoop!
 
thavoice said:
Dont forget about the ole tartan floor!
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I was just talking to someone about tartan floor yesterday. Who all had one? I know Parkway, Elida, Temple Christian in Lima had one. I was told Fort Recovery had one but never saw it. Anyone else?
 
*67 said:
I was just talking to someone about tartan floor yesterday. Who all had one? I know Parkway, Elida, Temple Christian in Lima had one. I was told Fort Recovery had one but never saw it. Anyone else?
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Dont recall Parkway having one but they may have. Do recall Ft Recovery, TC and Elida.
 
thavoice said:
Dont recall Parkway having one but they may have. Do recall Ft Recovery, TC and Elida.
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Parkway had one for sure, and had one into the 2000s (maybe really late 90s, at minimum). Remember folks getting honked off that they did all sorts of fundraising to put a new wood basketball floor down, and just a few years later, they tore the school down and sold the "old" wood court to a church.
 
*67 said:
I was just talking to someone about tartan floor yesterday. Who all had one? I know Parkway, Elida, Temple Christian in Lima had one. I was told Fort Recovery had one but never saw it. Anyone else?
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Continental's gym had a tartan floor initially, as did St. Michael's gym in Kalida. How about the 2x4's on end at Ottoville. That floor was hard on the legs.
 
eastisbest said:
Toledo's best I'd give to the field house named after the best B-Ball coach we produced, the Ben E. Williams Field House at Scott High School.
View attachment 14393View attachment 14394

That guy in the lower right been sitting there since the early 70s. I don't think he goes home.
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Have to agree with this take. I thought this was by far the best venue in the Toledo metro area, especially if there was a decent crowd.

As a side note: I liked this older court design and darker stain for parquet floor much better than the current newer look.
 
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