CLEVELAND, Tenn. - City school officials are counting down the months until the construction of Cleveland High School's Raider Arena is completed.
The $11 million Raider Arena replaces the high school's landmark Raider Dome, which closed in December 2013. Construction of the new facility began in November 2014.
Wooden floors are being installed in the new gymnasium and bleacher seating will follow that, principal Autumn O'Bryan said during a recent tour of the facility.
O'Bryan praised the understated, light-colored wood selected for the arena's playing court.
"The court will be outlined in Raider blue, but other court marks will be in natural colors," she said.
In a recent report to the city school board, Tri-Con Construction project manager Cason Conn estimated all major work would be completed before spring. Conn said installation of the gymnasium floor is expected to be finished before the end of January, and it will take another 30 days to completely install the facility's 2,700-seat capacity bleachers.
Weather permitting, concrete sidewalk and paving also will begin in January, Conn said.
O'Bryan said a ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for April. The city school board is scheduled to discuss that at its Jan. 4 meeting.
The facility will host graduation ceremonies for the senior class of 2016, schools chief Dr. Martin Ringstaff said.
He said Raider Arena will undergo a "soft" opening this spring, but it will not be fully used until the opening of the 2016-17 school year.
"It just makes sense at this point in the school year," said O'Bryan, citing the challenges with relocating wellness classes that have been dispersed across the high school campus since the Raider Dome was shut down two years ago.
The new facility will underscore a sense of school community and offer flexibility, as well, she said.
A small student section will be placed behind the home side basketball backboard, while windowed classrooms and mezzanines overlook the playing court from the upper deck of Raider Arena, O'Bryan said.
She said the upper-deck classrooms can be divided by partitions for intimate learning spaces or opened up and furnished with tables to facilitate presentations.
The mezzanines are perfect for small pep bands, she said.
Raider Arena's 2,700-seat bleacher capacity nearly doubles the 1,500-seat capacity of the Raider Dome, said Hal Taylor, supervisor of maintenance and transportation for the city school system. On top of that, the arena is capable of accommodating an additional 500 temporary seats, he said.
In November, members of Cleveland City Schools' parent advisory council praised the new facility after taking a sneak-peek tour of the Raider Arena's interior.
"It is top of the line," parent advisory council member and former Cleveland Raider basketball player Holli Collins said. "I can't imagine a high school being any nicer than this."
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.