School District has plans for old Toys ‘R’ Us building near South Hill Mall
A gymnastics facility is a “hot commodity” for the Puyallup School District, spokesperson Sarah Gillispie said. Luckily enough, the school district will have its own space for students to practice and compete in this season.
The Puyallup School Board approved a license agreement on Dec. 6 during the school board meeting to allow the school district to lease a space near the South Hill Mall through the high school gymnastics season or until Feb. 28, 2022.
The South Hill Mall space used to be Toys “R” Us and is 31,607 square feet. It will be shifted into a gymnastics center for high school athletes to practice and compete. The school district will pay $11,356 total for the space.
Gillispie said about 40 students participate in the school district’s gymnastics program. Assembling and disassembling gymnastics equipment every day takes up a lot of time, she said.
“The teams are very excited,” athletic director Jim Meyerhoff said. “They can actually dedicate the entire time to practice and refining their skills.”
Students usually practice at their high school’s gymnasium, Gillispie said. If the gym is used for an event or other sports, a lot of planning and coordination has to be done beforehand, she said.
“It’s the sport that demands specific equipment and specific building space — it’s always a challenge,” Gillispie said. “It’s a delicate balance being able to find that space in our facilities.”
One of the biggest benefits of having the space in the mall is students will be able to practice and compete on spring floors rather than wrestling mats, Gillispie said. Some students practice on wrestling mats because not all high schools have spring floors, she said.
It is “cumbersome” to assemble spring floors, and it takes up a lot of space, Gillispie said. However, spring floors provide more bounce and help prevent potential injuries compared to wrestling mats, she said.
As for getting to the new facility, she said students already have their own transportation, such as driving and carpooling. If someone does need transportation, she said, the school will work with them.
It is not uncommon for students to travel to facilities outside of the school district to practice and compete, Gillispie said. The benefit of this license agreement is having a space within school district boundaries, she said.
“Being able to have that equipment up and available for the entire season in one location is not only efficient, but it’s really going to be able to help the district leverage our gymnastics equipment district-wide in one location,” Gillispie said.
Plans for next season are still to be determined.
The Puyallup School District is not the only district in the area to use a separate space for its high school athletes. The Sumner-Bonney Lake School District has had their students practice at Ascend Gymnastics in Sumner, spokesperson Elle Warmuth said.
