Pirate palace: New Linderman gym in final stages

The newest gem of Lake County event venues is polished and ready for its public unveiling.

Nearly three and a half years after the weight of winter snow exposed a structural flaw in the 1940s-era original Linderman School gymnasium, an entirely new facility, with all the modern trimmings, has been completed and will be open to the public during an open house Friday.

In early January of 2018, school district officials were notified that a portion of the south non-weight bearing parapet wall of Linderman Elementary School collapsed into a locker room. A year later the district announced an agreement with Travelers Insurance to replace the facility with a new "like kind" gym at the same site. The old gym was demolished in June of 2019.

Tom DiGiallonardo has served as interim superintendent of the district since last July, serving previously as director of curriculum and federal programs. While he wasn’t directly involved in the initial stages of the project, he has supervised a frantic final year that saw the facility blossom amid a pandemic.

DiGiallonardo last week lauded the work of Carl Elliott, former director of human resources and IT, who retired in February but agreed to stay on and see the project through. He said Elliott’s replacement, Scott Boen, “has been really active, along with everyone in (the district) office. Our director of maintenance, Dan Giles, really has been involved since Day One as well, so he’s an incredibly valuable asset to this whole project.”

Local construction services firm Swank Enterprises was the lead contractor on the project. Paradigm v2 Architects out of Missoula and education building consultant Paul Bishop of Polson performed the initial design work.

The first Polson High School team to officially take the court in a home event in the fall will be the Lady Pirates volleyball team. Since the wall initially failed in 2018, Polson’s volleyball and basketball programs have held most home events at the Joe McDonald Health and Fitness Center on the Salish Kootenai College campus in Pablo.

“It’s just a big sigh of relief,” DiGiallonardo said. “I’m really happy with the way it’s shaping up and excited to have our community and our students competing in their own gym.”

The final bill for the project is still being tallied but “it is looking to be real close to $8.9 million,” according to district Business Manager Pamela Clary. The bulk of that cost is covered by Travelers, while the rest came from district funds.

“We didn’t have to ask the taxpayers for any money,” DiGiallonardo said, “so that’s a blessing.”

The new facility’s most stark feature is a giant pirate ship in the center of the playing floor, a tribute to Polson Pirate Nation. The ship was installed by Western Sports Floors, based in Clinton.

The gym has two levels of retractable seating with a capacity of about 2,000 people. It’s a large enough venue for some regional events, but not for major athletic tournaments. It could be used for Polson High School graduation ceremonies, though DiGiallonardo noted that many people enjoyed this year’s outdoor ceremony at the football field, so those questions will have to be addressed in the future.

“It gives us options, though,” he said.

Other amenities include four shiny, spotless locker rooms, two each for home teams and visitors; a training room with ice machines; a large concession area at the south entrance; an elevated, two-room media area in the northwest corner; laundry and storage facilities; and a team video room that also can serve as a banquet area.

A hallway along the western side eventually will serve as a “walk of fame” with Polson High trophies and memorabilia, according to PHS principal Andrew Fors.

Among the final touches were a new paved parking lot, as well as sponsor logos that were painted on the court’s corners for Swank Enterprises, Valley Banks, Massini Group and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. Beacon Tire sponsored the scorer’s table.

As of Monday, temporary fencing was still in place, and there’s still some landscaping and striping work on and around the parking lot, but DiGiallonardo said that work should be wrapped up soon.

Open House

The Polson School District will host an open house event at the new Linderman School Gymnasium, 312 Fourth Ave. E., from noon to 3 p.m. Friday (June 25). The community is invited to come tour the new facility.