Gavilan begins construction of new pool, gym floor

Students at Gavilan College have new sports facilities to look forward to as the community college moves forward on refurbishing its gymnasium and installing a new pool this summer.
The old pool was leaky and needed to be replaced, said college communications officer, Jan Bernstein-Chargin. Construction on the new pool will continue over the summer and will be ready for students in the spring. The cost of the project is $1,698,800.
“Next spring we should be able to hold swim classes,” she said. Community members who want access to the pool have to sign up for a class or swim program.
Next to the pool is the school’s gymnasium, which just hosted the Gavilan commencement ceremony. The gym floor was in dire need of refurbishment, said head indoor and beach volleyball coach, Kevin Kramer and will be replaced over the fall semester at a cost of $735,776.
The existing floor has been removed, with a few sections saved for posterity. Bernstein-Chargin said the school’s intent is to display the sections on the wall in the future gym if possible. For now they sit outside the currently blocked off gymnasium.
Kramer, whose volleyball team last year finished fifth in the state, third in the northern California division, said the gym’s refurbishment is a long time coming.
“I’ve been here eleven years and ten years ago the floor was supposed to be done,” he said. “It will give Gavilan athletics a whole new look.”
Though the team will be displaced this summer and early fall, he said, the girls will continue their drills and workout at facilities in Christopher High School and Gilroy High School.
“We plan on finishing half of our conference schedule at Gavilan,” he said. The volleyball season runs from August to December.
Kramer is also excited about plans to build a new outdoor beach volleyball court, just recently approved by the college board of trustees. Gavilan’s beach volleyball team is three years old and is already one of the top teams in northern California.
“It’s a party when we play and we are excited to have people come here,” he said.