STARKVILLE — Terry Tate said the buckling and slippery floors of the basketball court at the Travis Outlaw Center have started to throw off his game.
Tate has been playing basketball at the center twice a week for the past three years while he has been finishing his degree from Mississippi State University. He said he has seen the condition of the court slowly worsen over time.
But with the city planning to replace the gym floor next month, Tate said he hopes he can run up and down the court like normal again soon.
“It’s been getting slippery in here,” Tate said. “It’ll improve my game, having a new floor. … It’s a good thing that (the city) is thinking about that and taking care of it.”
On Monday, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department announced it will be closing the Travis Outlaw Center at the Sportsplex from May 1 to 28 to make repairs to the gym.
Parks and Recreation Director Brandon Doherty said repairs will include refinishing the gym floor, adding padding to the walls, covering glass windows, repainting the volleyball and pickleball courts, installing scoreboard covers and more.
Doherty also said the project will be “realigning” the gym and restriping the floor to include new volleyball courts.
“It’s all about being able to find ways to provide more programs for our community members, and not just be isolated into one activity,” Doherty said. “We’re making this investment to push along the expanding of programs and providing more opportunities.”
The refinishing of the gym floor was quoted at $42,000 by Roberson Floor Service. Funding for the new floor will come from sales taxes collected from food sales and hotels. These renovations are not included in the city’s comprehensive parks and recreation master plan that prescribes $16 million in parks improvements citywide over the next 10 years.
Doherty said the work was originally scheduled for June, to help prevent any interference with the basketball leagues that play on the court, but contractor availability pushed the renovation dates to May.
While the repairs are being made, the Travis Outlaw Center is going to be completely closed to the public. Doherty said most Parks and Recreation employees will be working remotely during the closure or moving to the Sportsplex annex building.
Anyone with questions for Parks and Recreation will be asked to call, rather than come to the building in person.
Mayor Lynn Spruill said these repairs are necessary to ensure the Travis Outlaw Center stays well maintained and usable for years to come.
“You’ve got to take care of things, because otherwise a maintenance issue becomes a capital improvements issue,” Spruill said. “We’re trying to keep them in as good a shape as we possibly can so they’ll last as long as we can feasibly have them last.”
Outdoor courts at McKee, J.L. King Park, and George Evans Park will still be available in the interim.
“We would appreciate patience as we’re going through this, because we only do have one limited indoor facility at this point in time,” Spruill said. “… I would pretty much just have to say it’s going to be outdoor courts for now, and we’ll be trying to get people back inside as soon as we can.”
The next improvements are scheduled for June 26, when a divider will be installed in the gym, Doherty said.
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