Newport Central Catholic replaced its 1954 gym floor with a Robbins Bio-Channel Star in a Boston Square pattern, a tribute to alumnus Dave Cowens.
Results
The challenge
The school's original gym floor dated from 1954 and felt, in the head coach's words, close to concrete underfoot. An anonymous donor offered $100,000 toward a replacement, matched by alumnus Dave Cowens, who played ten seasons for the Boston Celtics. The school wanted a safe floor that honored him and the history of the old one.
The solution
Cincinnati Floor Company installed a Robbins Bio-Channel Star floor in a Boston Square parquet pattern, a nod to the Celtics. The graphics were stained, not painted, so the pattern stands out. Robbins partner Artsman preserved sections of the old floor as memorabilia for alumni to buy, turning the demolished floor into school fundraising.
The outcome
The head coach reports that players feel the difference in jumping, running and their knees compared with the old floor.
About the Bio-Channel Star floor
Bio-Channel Star is an anchored, resilient system built on a continuous subfloor and resilient pad, which Robbins says damps vibration and improves uniformity. It carries heavy loads through an interwoven subfloor, and the current version has better shock absorption and ball bounce than earlier ones.
Key takeaways
- The gift and the alumnus match covered the cost of replacement.
- Staining the graphics instead of painting them made the parquet pattern stand out.
- Preserving pieces of the old floor turned its disposal into fundraising.
Project details
In their words
Our kids can tell the difference as far as jumping, running, playing on it. Their knees feel better so it’s not only an aesthetic thing, it’s best for the kids. The other one, it was essentially like walking on concrete. There was very little support system underneath. This one you can certainly tell a difference.
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