By Eagle Newswire
Tulsa Public Schools said McLain High School held a grand opening Thursday of their new field house.
The field house is funded by the 2015 bond and great care has been taken to make the most of the $12 million price tag.
The new field house has two gyms, improved locker rooms, meeting and film rooms, a hospitality area and a spirit store.
The basketball, volleyball, and wrestling teams will be practicing in their new 41,000 square foot building.
“I think it opens up a world of opportunity,” said Principal Renee Rabovsky. “My biggest, most important thing is letting kids know they deserve this facility and they deserve access to the best there is out there and this facility is the best there is out there.”
This space will allow McLain teams to have practices at normal hours.
“There was a point last year we had six teams, and they were trying to use one gym. That means really late nights for coaches and for kids so this really helps out,” said Principal Rabovsky.
He will soon move into his new office, which features a big glass window with a view of the basketball court. The training room will have a similar view, where players can get taped up and sent back to play when necessary.
Spectators will also get to enjoy some special features of the field house. As soon as they enter the building, they will see the Spirit Store where they can purchase event tickets and McLain clothing and gifts. From there, they can go up the grand staircases, which face in opposite directions to lead visitors to the correct bleachers. There is seating in the field house for 1,100 people, including accessible rows at the top.
Behind the bleachers sits a beautiful hospitality room where events can be held. On one side, floor-to-ceiling windows let in lots of natural light during the day; while another set of large windows face the court for game-time viewing.
Below the hospitality room and bleachers, in addition to locker rooms, there is an area designated just for wrestling. It features double doors that lead out to the court so they can easily pull out mats for tournaments.
On the opposite side of the field house the auxiliary courts can be found. These will be used for practices and for state testing. From above, test monitors can easily supervise through long windows.
“Thank you to the community for investing in the bond issue and making sure that it happened and investing in the kids at McLain,” said Principal Rabovksy.
For more information about the athletics program at McLain, mclain.tulsaschools.org/programsactivities/athletics.
