Homecoming open house for new gym

The Firemen’s Opera House served as New London’s first gym … when it wasn’t hosting graduations or plays or anything else that required a large space. Sadly no one living has a memory of it … or a picture for that matter.

When the new high school was built on Wilson Street around 1910, it didn’t come with a gym. The gym attached to this school was built around 1920. Everyone of a certain vintage remembers that gym … it was straight out of “Hoosiers.” After 40 some years, it was old and tired, but everyone still has a soft spot for that gym … especially the balcony or the locker rooms or the stage with the trampoline. (You know if you know.)

Yet everyone knew a replacement was needed. So in 1967, the 1910 Wilson Street High School, then part of the grade school before Clark, was torn down. New London was to have a new gym. It was big, bright, and beautiful. Something that all the citizens took pride in … and it is still, 50 years later, one of the nicest gyms in the area.

So several years ago, the then school board and a group of citizens felt a second gym was truly necessary for many reasons. It would open up so many possibilities for the school and town. But no one could have predicted the journey that second gym would take. It seems to have been stalled for years as several other improvements were completed. They were certainly needed too.

Today it is a reality. I am in awe every time I see it. It is a testament to the town and their devotion to the school system. So what better time than Homecoming week when so many come “home” to invite the community to come see this new addition to their school. School officials are hosting an open house from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 29 to have an up close and personal look at the newest addition to the school. Stop by before the Homecoming football game … you’ll be impressed!