BEND, OR -- Highland Magnet School at Kenwood Elementary has a new temporary gym, thanks to Mt. Bachelor.
The tent, which was used by Mt. Bachelor on the slopes, is roughly 5,500 square feet, and according to the school principal, Brian Kissell, will definitely serve better than the cafeteria and the library have since the roof collapse of the school gym last winter. Kissell says Mt. Bachelor offered use the giant military-grade tent after the collapse, and Kirby Nagelhout is building it to be ready in time for school to begin. "It looks a lot bigger than I anticipated, I think it's an awesome space. And will work perfectly for a temporary gym. I mean, we couldn't have a full-court basketball game in there like we could in the gym, but we can do just about all the elementary PE activities that we would do on any given day."
The canvas gym is a temporary solution until their permanent gym can be built next year, and according to Kissell, it couldn't come at a better time. "We started construction last Monday, and so today is almost two weeks' construction of this just giant military grade tent that is going to serve as an alternate space for us to have PE."
Kissell goes on to say that the gym couldn't have existed without the work of the entire community, including his leadership board and his staff. "There are a lot of people who contributed to this, including Mt. Bachelor and the Kirby Nagelhout crew that's down there working right now is fantastic."
The new permanent school gym should be finished during next school year.
