Trenton’s old gym to receive $350,000
in preservation funds

By Carrie A. Mizell

After numerous trips to Washington to rally for Trenton’s beloved old gym, supporters can rejoice in the news that the restoration project has been approved for a $350,000 historic preservation grant.

Efforts to refurbish the old gym began in earnest in 2003-2004 when the Gilchrist County School Board received their first historical preservation grant for the old gym in the amount $50,000, which helped fund the gym relocation effort. The first grant also opened the door for the school district to apply for a special categories grant of up to $350,000, which has been applied for every year since. Unfortunately, the project has been turned down multiple times by the State of Florida’s Division of Historical Resources.
In February 2008, the project took on an emergency aspect after David Spencer, director of operations for the Gilchrist County School District, noted tht the roof was sagging on the building and called in a structural engineer to evaluate the old gym.
After looking over the building, Gregory Wayland of Wayland Structural Engineering, deemed the sagging roof an after-effect of moving the building to Trenton Elementary School from its original location at Trenton High School in 2004-2005.
Wayland deemed the gym unsafe for occupancy, which made volunteers rallying for the old gym refurbishment to continue their efforts more urgently.
According to old gym advocate Riley Deen, who is also principal of Trenton Elementary School, the historic preservation grant will allow for the old gym to be brought up to fire code with the installation of sprinklers. The gym will also be brought up to handicap accessible standards. A heating and air conditioning unit and steps in an out of the building will also need to be installed, along with fixing the roofing issues.
The original Trenton school gym was constructed in 1939 by the Works Progress Administration and opened just in time for the 1940 basketball season. The gym has since been used by school children ages 5 to 18 for basketball, physical education classes and school dances.
The school district hopes to revitalize the gym and once again open it up to school children, as well as the community at Trenton Elementary School, which has no gym.
“It would give us a facility to use for physical education during inclement weather,” Deen said.
Over the years, Trenton Elementary School has held a number of fundraisers to support the old gym restoration including selling commemorative paving bricks, which raised over $10,000 for the old gym project. Once placed, the bricks will form a walkway and surround a fountain that will replicate an old fountain that once stood in front of the gym at its original location.
“This is a dream that I, along with many others, have had for a decade,” Deen said. “My happiness, first of all, is in the fact that Trenton Elementary School will finally have an indoor PE facility that will enable us to keep our students inside during inclement weather. We will also have a facility to offer for Suwannee Valley League practices and games, not to mention other community affairs. The biggest beneficiaries, though, are our children. This is a community icon that has provided fond memories for many of our citizens and now will be in the “fond memory” business again.”
According to Deen, funds from the historic preservation grant will not be available until July 1, 2011.