Hawaii athletics facilities: Gym I renovation complete, track in progress

The other half of David Matlin’s “game-changer” upgrades to Hawaii’s basketball and volleyball practice facilities has been realized.

That’s what the $9-10 million project was called by the UH athletic director last year. And reality appears to have lived up to vision.

Gym I, the ground-level counterpart to the already completed Gym II, was recently unveiled for use by UH student-athletes. Like Gym II, which was completed in December, it is climate-controlled, with brand-new floors, paint, lighting and acoustics.

Of critical importance, work was completed before the start of Rainbow Wahine volleyball full practices in early August.

Gym I’s volleyball emphasis was made pretty clear by the painting of the flooring; the three volleyball courts spanning the gym received the dominant paint, lines and markings. The basketball hoops are there, of course, but there are fewer than in Gym II and the lines of the courts are superseded by volleyball flooring.

It’s a reasonably close approximation to this rendering from 2017.

In that story, Matlin told Ferd Lewis, “The renovation of Gym 1 and Gym 2 are transformational opportunities for the Wahine/Warrior basketball and volleyball programs. It will be a safer environment, assist with recruiting and continue to help us to have more productive practices. We appreciate the Legislature for providing funding and the (university’s) facilities and executive team for all of their efforts to continue to move this project forward.”

Some more photos of the new facility:

Here’s a refresher on how Gym I looked pre-renovation:

For comparison, here’s a recent sweep of Gym I, which approximates the shoddy shape Gym II was in pre-renovation.#HawaiiMBB #HawaiiWBB pic.twitter.com/Tn5zfV4aLG

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— Brian McInnis (@Brian_McInnis) December 20, 2018

UPDATE: From Cindy Luis, here’s a photo of a piece of the old Gym I flooring that men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade kept as a keepsake.

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Meanwhile, the long-awaited replacement of the Ching Complex track is underway. A new asphalt bedding has been installed surrounding the football practice field. The actual new track still must be put in to complete the roughly $2 million project.

Matlin told Hawaii Warrior World that the completion target of the track is the “end of August.”

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Some additional good news for UH staff and fans: Looks like Lower Campus Road is receiving some much-needed attention. Construction crews had torn up much of the section leading into the parking structure, an area frequently marred by potholes.