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LHS News

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Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because Liberty High School is getting a new sports arena. That’s right everyone, the wait is over. 200 Blue Jay Drive will no longer be home to that inferior, broken-down, well-aged gym. The gymnasium of our dreams will soon find its new home, inside Liberty High School.

We have been hoping and begging for a while now and our voices are finally being heard. After speaking with Chief Financial and Operations Officer Carol Embree, I was informed that if all goes as planned, construction on the field house will begin around May of 2014. In theory, the gym will be finished and ready to play in by January of next school year.

Picture this: First home game of the season. The doors open and fans from the opposing team fall through the wooden doors. Expecting to see the gym they’ve previously seen at Liberty games, they stroll in with their noses in the air like they own the place. They all look up at once. What is this? The enemies stop in their tracks and are outraged with what they see. In perfect sync, their heads fall back down and they can’t help but stare at the glossy new court as it reflects back upon their faces. The fans stare at the wood and just as we suspect, the court illuminates fear in their eyes. Precisely what we were hoping for. We have won this game before our athletes have stepped on the court.

Embree also cleared up some of the confusion on the location of this new gym.
“The current plans are for the gymnasium to extend on to the school. It will come out on the side of the athletic parking lot and be two stories high,” Embree said. “The main and auxiliary gym will stay and be used for extra activities.”

Of course with any significant change like getting a new gym, we will encounter many pros and cons. In my opinion, getting the field house will be very beneficial for Liberty High School. This is the first step our school has taken in the right direction to catch up with the facilities at neighboring schools. Liberty as a whole is well known for its sports teams and we deserve a nice gym in which to show off.

Naturally, some people in our community will not like the idea of tearing down the gym that every Liberty alumni has called home. It’s the court that athletes have dripped blood, sweat, and tears on for decades. They are the stands that this community has shouted for joy in after every victory, and the stands that fans weeped in after suffering harsh defeat. Many will feel that disassembling the gym that’s held these memories will ruin everything that Liberty has built for its town up to date when really, it will do the opposite.

After speaking with Noah Simpson, the Varsity girls basketball head coach, it was clear that he was ecstatic about getting a new gym.

“I am pumped for the new field house,” Simpson said. “Not only do I think getting a new field house will get more people out to our games, but I also think we will try to protect our new house and that will get us more wins.”

Simpson was not the only person happy about getting a new field house.

“I think getting a new gym will be great for us,” junior Chiarra Franklin said. “People will finally be  excited to come out to our home games and that makes me especially happy because it will be just in time for my senior year.”

Throughout life, change is inevitable, but Liberty High School is going down the right path. With our new field house we hope to get more people out to Liberty games and to get more wins over the next few years. Overall, getting a new field house will be very rewarding and beneficial for Liberty High School.

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