Groundbreaking construction begins on PCA’s new gym

By: Haleigh McWilliams and Erica Wasson

Pinewood Christian Academy has recently begun construction on what will be its third gymnasium. This ten thousand square foot, two-story addition to campus will house a practice facility for the cheer and wrestling teams, a weight room, men’s and women’s locker rooms, and second-level storage.

It will not be a traditional gym, but one where practices will be held instead of events. Since there are no plans to host events in this gym, there will not be any stands or seating. Seven thousand square feet will serve as the practice facility for the cheer and wrestling teams. This is a much needed practice facility for teams during the winter months. During this season, PCA has six basketball teams, varsity and middle school wrestling teams, varsity and junior varsity cheer teams, and the one act club that all need space to practice for their respective sport. With the addition of this new gym, athletes will be able to set up for their practices easier and have more time dedicated to their practice. The school hopes to have more opportunities to host events for both the cheer and wrestling teams in the future and this gym would provide a warm-up area for visiting teams before events.

The gym will also feature a new weightlifting facility, which will be two thousand square feet. Moving this room from its original room will eliminate noise and provide more space for workouts. All of the equipment will be moved from the original weight room, which is located on the second level of the upper school building, to furnish the spaces; there are no plans to purchase any new equipment. The existing weight room will most likely be converted into a storage facility for the upper school.

Four thousand square feet of the gym will be dedicated to an open, climate-controlled upstairs that will be a much-needed dedicated storage space. This will allow rooms that have previously been used as storage within the school to be repurposed as new classrooms. Though there will not be any dedicated parking around the gym, there will be a loading dock.

All preliminary steps must be completed by April 1st, which is when the building will be delivered. Hopefully the construction of the building will be completed around the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.