DARRINGTON — After three years of work, it’s ready just in time for the Darrington High School volleyball team’s first turnout Aug. 22.
The new gymnasium floor at the Darrington Community Center was completed earlier this month. The project garnered the help of most of the high school studen
t body, said community center President Diane Boyd. The school doesn’t have its own gym.
“We were able to instill a sense of history about the project and a sense of pride about the community among the kids,” Boyd said. “And the new floor is absolutely beautiful.”
The public can view the new gym floor during the school’s annual open house and barbecue in September, she said.
Just as people did in 1952 to build the community center, Darrington folks rallied to fix the beloved gym.
People raised about $40,000 and donated time and materials to replace the gym’s old floor, Boyd said. Trees salvaged from the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest were donated to the cause, and, except for the tongue-and-groove work, the milling was done by volunteers.
Sales of a Darrington cookbook and a myriad of fundraisers and grants also are funding a new roof on the community center, new lighting in the gym and new appliances in the center’s kitchen and dining room. All donations are tax-deductible with a receipt, Boyd said.
The old gym floor had been refurbished a few times during the past 60 years, but it was worn out, with pieces missing and nail heads popping up here and there.
The Darrington gym is considered by some to be one of the finest old athletic facilities in Western Washington, with its all-wood interior and built-in seating for 1,200 people, who all look down on the action on the gym floor.
Darrington Community Center also has been the venue for countless baby showers, high school dances and graduations, wedding receptions, anniversary celebrations, funeral dinners, senior lunches, Red Cross shelters, Sauk-Suiattle tribal events and the high school’s annual Thanksgiving dinner for the town’s elders.
“We appreciate everyone who helped,” Boyd said. “I can’t wait for people to see it.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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