Kingston’s gym unplayable after water damage

The Kingston High School gym floor has seen better days.

It’s the original gym floor from when the school was built. But now it must be replaced due to water damage over the past few months. 

According to Kingston Superintendent Dr. Lee Ann Wallace, the district had a water line break Nov. 13. It was spotted by a coach the following morning. Water got under the northern end of the high school gym floor.

“It messed the floor a little bit. It was enough that we had to call insurance, but it was still playable,” said Wallace. “But when insurance kind of looked at it, because it had been sanded so many times, they had said they were going to go ahead and replace the whole thing.”

Over Christmas break, the facilities director completed a walkthrough of the school to check the pipes due to the cold snap. Unfortunately, Wallace said the pipes broke about 18 minutes after the facilities director left. It took about 48 hours before it was discovered due to the school being closed.

“We came back in on the day when we found the water and this time it had gotten under the gym floor, this time on the south end,” said Wallace. “That’s where the really bad damage happened, but we already had insurance look at it so it was already going to be replaced.”

Wallace said the floor is so bad it is unplayable. Sections of the current gym floor have bubbled up, while a section close to the bleachers has started to break.

Kingston’s homecoming was on Jan. 13, and instead of playing at home, they played at West County. Wallace said she felt bad for the kids and the parents as the coronation also was moved to the elementary school. 

Work on the gymnasium floor is expected to start soon and should be finished by April, with an estimated cost of $140,000.

To prevent something similar from happening again, Wallace said the district was looking to put in a floating floor. The floor will be on legs, allowing for water to get under and not touch the wooden floor. If water does happen to get under the floor, it can easily be blown out. It is also better for the players, she said. 

Kingston High School gym floor has seen better days. The floor has been warped by water damage and will be replaced soon.

Danielle Thurman is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be contacted at dthurman@dailyjournalonline.com or 573-518-3616.