Courtesy of Louisiana Tech Athletics
RUSTON – After renovation initially started on July 30th to replace the original floor that came with the Memorial Gymnasium facility in the 1950s, the new state-of-the-art floor is less than two weeks away from final completion.
The classic look of the floor was designed to permanently honor former Louisiana Tech basketball coaching legend Robert “Scotty” Robertson – an eight-time Hall of Famer – and will serve as an alternate practice facility for the Bulldog and Lady Techsters basketball teams as well as use by the health and physical education department.
The renovation was performed by Sports Floors Inc. of Memphis, Tenn., and began with a team of workers spending an entire week tearing out the nailed down pecan floor by hand.
After leaving part of the subfloor that was original to the building, a new subfloor was placed on top of that. Then the top maple floor was brought in and had to sit for about three weeks in order to acclimate to the moisture level before being nailed down.
A crew then came in to sand the floor, and a seal was put on before the artist came in and painted out all of the artwork which took two days.
The final step in what will be a near two and a half month process will be three coats of varnish put on and then the floor will have to sit for an additional four days before any activity can occur on it.
Along with the new floor, new backboards, rims and padding have been installed as well as repair to the bleachers. New wench systems for the goals will also be installed in the near future.
Contributions from former players, coaches, friends and colleagues of Robertson, as well as other Louisiana Tech supporters, made this renovation possible.