Monessen High School gym requires repairs to prevent building from shifting
School officials are concerned safety issues could arise in the gymnasium.
School officials are concerned safety issues could arise in the gymnasium.
The Monessen Middle/ High School gymnasium requires structural repairs to prevent the building from shifting further or collapsing.
The district intends to address the issue as part of its infrastructure improvement project, the plans for which have yet to be finalized.
Through a geotechnical study, ABM Industries discovered that water has been seeping under the gym, causing it to shift and apply pressure to the foundation. It also has structural cracks in the foundation visible in the interior walls.
ABM recommended pulling up parts of the gym floor to drill holes and inject polyurethane to stabilize the structure.
School officials are concerned safety issues could arise in the gym.
“My concern about that is we know about that, and we’re letting people in there to watch games; that could become a problem,” Superintendent Dr. Robert Motte said.
Art Layne, who is in charge of upkeep and repair of the district’s facilities, takes the cracks in the walls into consideration when preparing the gym for graduation.
“Whenever I set up the gym for graduation, I always try to move that out far enough that if that would go, you’re not getting hit by anything,” Layne said.
The gym sits about 140 feet above a coal mine that shuttered in the early 1900s, but it’s the water that’s collecting under the foundation that’s causing structural damage.
According to Layne, the state Department of Environmental Protection previously inspected the mine and found no fault with it.
When asked if he thought ABM’s proposed repairs to the gym were excessive during a special board meeting last week, Layne pointed to possible tragic outcomes if the structural issues are not addressed.
“I just hate to make a judgment on something like that,” he said. “If they would hold a basketball game or anything during school time and that would give, someone (could) end up being killed or something major would happen.”
The gym’s floor is also visibly uneven in certain parts.
“If you would actually walk across the backside of that gym, that floor goes up and down,” Layne said. “There’s at least an inch difference from one end to the other.”
Layne said that section of the gym would have to be removed in order to properly assess the problem.
While no official decisions have been made regarding the district’s infrastructure improvement project, school officials acknowledged the gym’s structural problems need to be solved.
“I think, obviously, we have a foundation problem,” board Vice President Marc Bellora said. “When you’re dealing with foundation — whether it be commercial, institutional or residential structure — you’ve got issues. So it’s something that we need to address.”