Dodge City indoor facility keeps Red Demons out of the elements
Constructed in May 2018, Dodge City PE Expansion getting plenty of use
Dodge City's new indoor facility is one of the finest in Kansas. (Courtesy Photo)
Dodge City's new indoor facility is multi-purpose and used by physical education classes, multiple sports teams and even band and color guard. (Courtesy Photos)
The Dodge City High School PE Expansion provides one of the best indoor practice facilities in the state. The project, completed in May 2018, is used for a variety of Dodge City High School programs and was funded as part of a bond issue.
Kansas Pregame caught up with Dodge City High School Athletic Director Jay Gifford to learn more about this new facility.
Q. When was it constructed?
A. The DCHS PE Expansion was completed in May 2018. It is 28,000 square feet, has two drop down cages, is completely padded and netted, and is climate controlled. The project also include the addition of four locker rooms, an official’s locker room, a 4900 square foot cheer facility - also used for physical education - and additional restrooms for the DCHS Field House. The locker rooms and cheer facility are all storm safe areas.
Q. How was it funded?
A. The facility was part of an $86M bond issue passed by our community that provided storm safe shelters for most of the schools in DC, new cafeterias/gyms at most elementary buildings, a new academic wing/PE Expansion for DCHS, and basically a complete renovation of our oldest middle school building, Dodge City Middle School.
Q. Is it strictly for Dodge City public school use or is it a multi-use facility?
A. The first priority is for DCHS students. We use the facility every school day starting at 6:30 a.m. for our Strength & Conditioning program, and for PE classes. We can divide the facility in half with a couple of curtains. After school, we use it for our off-season conditioning workouts, and then open gym time for our off-season sports. During inclement weather, we have a rotation that allows our in-season sports to use the facility. These times usually end around 8 p.m. We have allowed our local YMCA to use if for indoor soccer and they played a weekend of youth football in the facility on a miserable weather weekend this fall. The Dodge City Community College baseball and softball teams have also used the facility, when available. In the summer, the facility is mostly used for Summer S&C and for team camps. We are also planning on using the facility for the Shrine Bowl Combine in June.
Q. Is it used for competition, or just practice?
A. It is just used for practice at the high school level, but we have had YMCA Football/Soccer in the facility, and hosted an indoor soccer tournament, as well.
Q. What sports teams utilize the facility?
A. Our band and color guard have used it for practices in the early morning and the evening. I think the only sports that haven’t fully utilized the facility are our “court” sports along with golf and swimming. However, since we have almost 100 percent of our student-athletes involved in our S&C program, we feel like every single student-athlete has benefited from this facility provided by the vision of our community, school board, and District administration.
Check out this video of the Dodge City High School track team kicking off spring practice indoors yesterday:
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