Westfield School grows with new gymnatorium

Construction recently began on a renovation to the gymnatorium at the Westfield School in Perry. The structure was originally built in 2013 in addition to their other gym — which was built much earlier — and has primarily been used as a practice facility for the schools’ wrestling, cheerleading and basketball teams.

However, the new renovations will see new uses beyond just a place for the various teams of Westfield to practice.

The project will see the addition of a lobby as well as a spirit shop, a vast upgrade from the current shop location of a trailer in the quad.

“There’s going to be two things going on with the facility,” School Headmaster William Carroll said. “It’ll be a foyer and a wrestling room, and it will also be a gathering space.”

Carroll stated that it will also likely be used for Westfield’s various summer camps, furthering the functioning ability of the facility.

“It’s a thorough renovation of the interior of the existing structure, as well as the construction of new square footage,” Carroll added.

Additionally, the technical aspects of the facility are going to see other improvements on top of these.

“There is also the total renovation of the interior space,” Carroll continued. “It’ll be floors, ceiling, HVAC, lighting, electrical and sound.”

This will provide an improvement to Westfield’s Grandparent’s Day tradition, an annual event in which the children of the lower school (grades pre-k through 5th) put on a large production for the grandparents of Westfield students.

The project is estimated to cost between one to two million dollars, and the school has hired JWS Contracting LLC, a company based in Acworth, Georgia, to execute the renovations.

This project was made possible through the donations generated by Westfield’s 50th Anniversary Campaign, an effort that started in 2019 and has continued into this year.

“Day in and day out, it just gives us some badly needed additional space, and for some special events, it will just be a much better experience for everybody,” Carroll said.

As well as the Grandparent’s Day program, the space will likely also be used for the school’s baccalaureate and graduation programs, which were both previously held outdoors on the football field due to COVID-19.

The use of the facility as a wrestling gym is also a new feature for the school, as the team earned their recognition as a valid program with their back-to-back GISA state championship wins in 2021 and 2022.

With the addition of a wrestling facility, the school may now host more tournaments and even have a consistent area for the wrestlers to practice, which has historically been an area of slight conflict between the wrestling coaches and the other programs competing for that place as a practice area.

Overall, the gymnatorium seems to be an improvement to the quality of the school from the perspectives of the students, staff and parents. The 50th Anniversary Campaign’s newest project displays continued growth in recent years.

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