Over the summer, the establishment of a new weight room and concession stand took place. The weight room features a range of new equipment while the concession stand, located on the right side of the weight room, provides a second location to access snacks and beverages during school events.
These facilities are expected to impact both athletic training and student experiences at the school.
The concession stand offers a variety of snacks and beverages, ensuring that fans have access during events. The stand aims to support school spirit and emphasize the importance of involvement from students, providing more opportunities for them to take part.
“The concession stand really adds to the atmosphere of our athletic events. It gives students, families, and fans a place to grab refreshments and socialize,” Sierra Killam, senior FFA president, said. “Plus, the proceeds go back to supporting Wall FFA, providing funds for our competitions, trips, and allowing us to reinvest in the concession stand to make improvements.”
In addition to the concession stand, the new weight room provides more space for physical training. Equipped with newer equipment and tailored for various levels of workouts, the weight room supports training and overall fitness among student athletes.
“I think the new weight room will affect my new training routine in a positive way because everything will be easier to use and more accessible,” senior Abbie Boehle said. “It’ll encourage me to reach my personal goals because I’ll have a nice, new place to work out in and overall a better environment.”
Feedback from students and athletes has been positive since the opening of these two new facilities. Many have expressed excitement about the upgraded facilities, noting that the weight room provides them with tools that they need to improve their athletic performance.
“I think it really encourages all of us students,” junior Rylan Scandolari said. “Getting new stuff is always nice. And we want to keep it nice.”
Construction of these facilities faced significant setbacks, though, due to unexpected utility lines running through the planned site. As teams worked to reroute and work around these lines, the timeline for the project extended, raising concern among staff and students eager for the facilities’ completion.
“We had to get a lot of engineering done to locate these lines. They had dug down probably three or four feet to get the solid surface for the foundation of it. Then they missed a line, one of our main fiber lines, and they cut it,” high school principal Ryan Snowden said. “It took about three weeks to get a company to come out to fix it.”
Despite this, the projects exceeded student expectations. After overcoming these challenges, the final design reportedly fosters a sense among students and the rest of the community. Students and staff are thrilled with the new facilities.
“There’s so much more space. We used to have five benches, five squats, five cleans so you had groups doing different things,” varsity football coach Craig Slaughter said. “Now there’s 40 lifting stations. We have enough room in the weightroom that all our athletes can do the same thing at the same time. It’s awesome. It’s a great benefit for all of our athletic programs.”
As our school continues to promote wellness and engagement, the concession stand and weight room stand as a testament to the school’s commitment to providing top-notch resources for its students.
