NNHSgymFloorHoriz100714 | Newton MA News and Politics BlogA cautionary note as we embark on more school projects. It seems the gym floor at four-year-old Newton North is in need of replacement, at an estimated cost of $225,000. Just Google and you can see the bid solicitation. I don’t know why the ‘estimated low value’ and ‘estimated high value’ would be the same.

NNHSgymFloorReplacementBid | Newton MA News and Politics Blog
While it looks fine from a distance, there are many places where gaps have opened up between the floor boards, which are a hazard for cutting players if they slide on the floor, as basketball and volleyball players may do. Although one of the volleyball helpers told me that while they’re supposed to be keeping track of such instances, she didn’t think there’d been any.
I haven’t been able to find out yet who pays for the new floor: is there still a holdback or bond with the general contractor four years after the fact? Does it come out of city funds? Did we buy an extended warranty on NNHS? Do we go after whoever installed the floor or supplied the wood? I’m guessing that the walls aren’t getting further apart, so I presume the wood is shrinking, having not been adequately dried or pre-shrunk before installation? Any gym floor experts out there?
Perhaps someone from the School Committee has more information.