Sneak peak at Whiteville H.S. new athletic facility
Weight room gym part of 8-figure construction project to open new building
WHITEVILLE, N.C. (WWAY) – Since the beginning of 2020, Whiteville High School has been under construction. From a combination of factors, construction was slower than administrators anticipated.
“COVID hit and kind of put everything in a tailspin. We saw a pause in the building and construction,” said Whiteville high school principal Michael Hobbs. “Everybody kind of got down in the dumps a little bit… and thinking ‘when are we going to be finished?'”
Well, they’re getting close. The school held a ribbon cutting earlier in March for the opening of new building. While parts of it are still being finished, the school’s brand new weight room athletics facility is one thing that’s finished.
“We’ve had a really nice opening. The kids have made a great transition in to the new school, teachers have made a great transition in to the new school. This is a great building for our community. Our community thrives on Whiteville high school. It thrives on the school itself and the athletics here. Our community is a great support for our school for our athletics. I’m really excited for our community.”
William Strength designed the new facility.
“Having a weight room is a big deal and a strength and conditioning facility because we are tryin to train the best athletes in every sport. They had a vision of a new school and a new facility within the new school,” said Jarrett Price, the school’s head football coach. “The process of getting the weight room – it didn’t happen over night. We had some donors. It cost $175,000 to furnish brand new equipment, flooring… and William Strength did a phenomenal job.”
Since Coach Price arrived in 2017, he says this new gym has been one of his focal points. The teams used to lift in a small section of space in the basketball gym. It featured old equipment, broken concrete floors, and was not a barely a big enough space to hold the entire team for a workout.
“When I first got here I told them the first thing we’ve got to get is a weight room. I said you know if we are going to call ourselves the best and want to be elite – we’ve got to have nice facilities. and the company William Strength did a great job they are one of the best around in furnishing weight rooms so we started this process with one of the best. We won’t have to go back and replace equipment and floors every 2 years. The equipment is top notch – and it’s built to last.
Administration mentioned that some alums got a chance to tour the building before the school’s ribbon cutting ceremony. While many are nostalgic of the old building, they say they are excited to usher in the new era at the school.
“Whiteville is a very special community,” says Superintendent Marc Whichard. “Our people support our schools like I have never seen before. It is evident the pride they take.”
