Monterey basketball coach Eric Richard (right) and Monterey Athletic Director Cary Shively look over the new Monterey gym Thursday.

Monterey basketball coach Eric Richard (right) and Monterey Athletic Director Cary Shively look over the new Monterey gym Thursday.

“If I was a betting man, I would bet that our gym will be ready to go in October.”

That was the forecast, and hopes, of Monterey High boys and girls basketball coach Eric Richard.

And you can bet the majority of people in Monterey are anxiously awaiting that first game in the new gym.

An October opening would be right on time for the opening of basketball season for the Wolves and Lady Wolves.

The new Monterey gym has survived a number of setbacks, but the almost completed frame, and netted basketball goals inside the building give a glimmer of what is to come.

The current Monterey gym, which was built in the mid-1950s, holds 450 spectators.

According to Louisiana High School Athletic Association rules, a gym has to hold at least 500 people for the school to host a playoff game. Monterey has had to play “home” playoff games at Vidalia, Ferriday, Block and Harrisonburg in the past.

The new gym will seat 625 spectators.

“Our kids go on the road and see other gyms that are very nice” Richard said. “I’m glad we’re to the point that our kids will have that. I’m excited about having separate boys and girls dressing rooms for home and visitors.”

In September 2020, the Concordia Parish School Board awarded the contract for construction of the project to Don M. Barron Contractor Inc. of Farmerville for $3,520,000. 

That included the base bid $3,210,000 and alternative bids of $102,000 for retractable bleachers and dressing room lockers, and $208,000 for the parking lot. 

The architectural firm M3A of Jackson, Miss., designed the new gym.

The 15,940 square-feet facility will feature a permanent stage, bleachers, concession and parking.Monterey High School’s new gym should be complete by August 15, according to Marco Gonzalez with Volkert Inc., the company charged with overseeing the  building’s construction.

COVID, unusually severe winter  weather and a delay in the shipment of metal panels pushed the project back.

“A year ago there was nothing but a hole out there,” Richard said. “It’s come a long way.”

Bleachers are expected to be put in very soon, as well as bathroom wall tile and prinklers.

“This is something the community can be proud of,” said Monterey Athletic Director Cary Shively. “So many things in Monterey are centered around the school.”

Not that Shively and Richard won’t miss the current gym, except on home playoff game day.

“The old gym is unique,” Shively said. “Our kids would know every space in there. Eveything is so close.”

“I’ve talked to a number of former players who would have loved to have played in the new gym,” Richard said. “I think this gym will boost morale. And we’ll have more people coming to games. I know a lot of elderly people would not come to games because they didn’t know if they would have a seat.”

Shively, a longtime Monterey girls basketball coach who gave up the girls job to concentrate on softball and the athletic director job in 2020, had one request for Richard.

“I just want you to miss one game so I can coach in that gym,” Shively said.

There is one thing Richard and Shively are seriously adamant about.

“Our kids are going to play hard whether you are in a matchbox or a big auditorium,” Richard said.

“When you play against Monterey, you’re playing against a team that’s going to give it all they’ve got every single time out,” Shively added.

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