$5.7 million project will give a Modesto high school its first fitness center
Principal Nathan Schar has talked about bringing a fitness center to Johansen High School since he started his position nine years ago.
Without a proper facility, students in the school’s weight training class have used a converted dance room and classroom on the second floor of the gymnasium, Schar said. The space was too crowded and became unsafe.
“Over time, just the sheer dropping of the weights, the sheer everything going on, it did start to damage the concrete floor,” Chief Business Officer Tim Zearley told Modesto City Schools board members at a March meeting.
On Monday, the district began construction on a $5.7 million fitness center — the first in the school’s nearly 30-year history.
“It’s necessary for our community,” Schar said. “It’s necessary for our kids.”
The school board gave the project final approval at its July 26 meeting. Zearley said school officials have planned and saved for four years to fund the project with district dollars.
The 7,300-square-foot facility will replace outdoor basketball courts to the right of the school’s swimming pool. It will include a weight room, outdoor showers facing the pool, an enclosed outdoor track, restrooms and pool equipment storage.
The center will allow hundreds more students to take weight training classes, Schar said. The makeshift weight room could accommodate only 40 students, compared to about 60 in a typical P.E. class, he said.
Schar said he expects the facility to improve students’ health and boost their excitement to attend school. “This gives them a chance to see what it’s supposed to be like,” he said.
Physical activity can provide students with structure and help relieve stress, school board President Charlene West said.
“As a counselor and someone who’s dedicated to the emotional and mental wellness of students, I can attest to the strong correlations that physical fitness plays in our students’ well being,” West said.
School officials anticipate the fitness center to be ready by the 2022 school year. Material shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could delay that timeline, Chief Communications Officer Krista Noonan said.
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
