The junior high gym is a long-standing landmark within the Wall community. It represents generations of memories for town residents.

The question lingers, however, on when updates should be made or if the gym should be completely replaced.

The gym was initally introduced as the Wall High School Gymnasium at an open house in 1955, 49 years after the town was officially established with the inception of the post office in 1906.

Now, another 50-plus years later, the gym has held many students’ and former athletes’ experiences.

“It was such an electric atmosphere,” sophomore English teacher Terri Walling said of playing there. “I could always hear my dad’s voice above the others. You did have both team’s fans on one side since there are no bleachers on the other side, so tempers flared. It got just as intense up in the bleachers as it did out on the court.”

Despite its age, the gym continues to be maintained as best as it can be.

“I think it’s probably better taken care of now,” Walling said. “I remember the floor being very slick all the time. We had to keep the bottoms of our basketball shoes wet between every timeout or dead ball. It’s probably swept, varnished, and stripped better now than it was back then.”

Over the years, however, the state of the gym has inevitably come into question.

“I think there are a lot of changes to be made in there,” eighth grader Caleb Braden said. “It kinda gets hot sometimes.”

Coaches and staff also have experiences working in the building, and they have opinions on making updates.

“We need to fix the ceilings and broken windows and make sure no one can fall out the window,” junior high girls basketball coach Robyn Brooks said. “We need to fix the locker rooms, the heater, and the air conditioners in there.”

Superintendent Russell Dacy agrees the gym is one of many important items on the district’s renovation wish list. 

“I think there are things we need to look at to improve the gym,” Dacy said. “The question is going to be how far we can go to improve it based on improvements versus cost.”

When looking at the playing surface, the junior high gym seems nice. However, there are multiple other problems such as the dressing rooms, plumbing, air conditioning, and the issue of expansion. On top of all that, there is also the matter of the original structure of the gym.

“The way [the gym] is built is a challenge,” Dacy said. “You have the bleachers, and then you have what we call the dungeon underneath it with those locker rooms.”

Options for updates and the timeline for those updates is ongoing.

“As far as dates, we don’t have any yet,” Dacy said. “I think COVID kind of slowed us down with looking into some of this stuff. We’ve got to get back on the radar and start looking at targeting some of these projects.”

No matter what it looks like now, the junior high gym bears the echoes of history and remembered traditions — which hold a special place within the Wall community.

“Above all, never, ever tear it down,” Walling said. “It is a relic, an antique. It reverberates with so many memories for so many community people.”