New flooring that was installed in Tucson High's main gym late last year will have to be replaced, as the wood has started to split.
The gym, which is primarily for competition, is still in use and doesn't appear to be dangerous to students, said Tucson High Magnet School Principal Abel Morado.
The cost of installing the new wood floor was about $163,000, said Marcus Jones, TUSD's program manager for the bond and architecture department. The repairs will be an expense the contractor will have to bear, he said.
The new flooring was placed over the gym's old floor, but that doesn't appear to be the cause for the splitting, Morado said. A support system was put in on top of the old flooring before the new one went in.
Jones believes the splitting is the result of a problem that occurred before the flooring was installed.
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"Normally, the wood has to be brought into the building before it is installed so it can acclimatize to the room," Jones said.
"Somewhere in that process, something went wrong - I don't know if it was the wood or the climate."
He added that the same kind of flooring was put into Tucson High's new annex gym, and no splitting has been observed there.
"This is something that we hate to see, but it's not totally uncommon with wood flooring if conditions are out of whack," Jones said.
Jones hopes the repairs can be done before the end of the summer, if not sooner.
Contact reporter Alexis Huicochea at ahuicochea@azstarnet.com or 573-4175.
