Before the first-ever event tipped off at the new Lassiter High School gym on Tuesday, the school’s athletic director stood at midcourt, looked around around them, and took in some history.
Scott Kelly is 1993 Lassiter graduate who recalled his time the school’s first gym, built in 1980.
“We played on a rubber floor,” he said.
The new $15.66 million building features maroon-colored seating for 3,000, as well as locker rooms for basketball and volleyball, and a wrestling practice facility.
For the last year or so, the construction area has been a mess, in addition to taking out parking space.
“I think you’ve got the best gym in the state,” Kelly told the Lassiter student body at a grand opening ceremony that included CCSD officials.
He also thanked the students for their patience: “You finally made it.”
As the Lassiter girls basketball team played Walton in the first game, Kelly paused momentarily near the Lady Trojans’ bench and took in the atmosphere.
He’s been a teacher and administrator at his alma mater for 20 years, including the last five as athletics director, as plans were being made for a new gym.
“It’s something people in this community have been looking forward to for a lot of years,” he said.
It’s state of the art, and part of a continuing wave of new gyms in the Cobb County School District to feature such a large capacity, and with specific space for multiple sports.
That’s also the case at a new gym that opened in August at Walton and two years ago at Pope. They have combined gym-theatre facilities, unlike Lassiter, whose concert hall opened in 2013 on another part of campus.
Kelly said the Lassiter freshman and JV teams will be playing at the new gym as well, starting with home games on Friday against Roswell.
The wrestling team will have competitions there, and the volleyball team will make its debut at the new gym in the fall of 2020.
On Tuesday, however, Walton played the role of spoiler, winning the girls game 65-37 and the boys game by a 55-50 score.
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