BENSON — Benson/KMS gymnastics made the best out of its home in the Benson armory. And the team was able to perform well in the setting, finishing the 2019-20 season as the 11th-ranked team in Class A.
But, the armory, located a half-mile from Benson High School, offered a lot of logistical challenges.
“(The team) had to be extremely flexible in how they were putting in their equipment. And we were not able to have meets for more than two teams,” said Benson activities director Garrett Schmidt. “They didn’t have a real locker room. Our gymnastics parents and coaches stepped up big time in that most weeks, they’d have to take down the equipment on Fridays, for roller skating going on at the armory on Saturday, then putting the equipment up on Sunday nights.
“That’s a real pain on the equipment; it’s not meant to take up and down every week.”
But soon, Benson/KMS gymnastics will have a new home on campus.
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On April 14, voters in the Benson School District approved a $1.5 million bond for the construction of a 11,800-square-foot multipurpose facility east of the high school.
The referendum passed by a vote of 671-191.
“It’s exciting,” Schmidt said after the bond was passed. “It shows how much we value extracurriculars. It’s long overdue for the gymnastics program and we’ll be better because of it.”
Schmidt said the main tenants would be gymnastics, but the facility will certainly be used year-round.
“Right now, the plan is to have gymnastics use it six months out of the year with the idea that, in the fall and spring, it will be like an indoor facility for tennis, baseball and softball,” Schmidt said. “Eventually, there will be playing surfaces in there, like in the spring, JO volleyball could have a court there. The secondary sport would be tennis using it.”
