After a long wait, the new Gallatin High School in Bozeman finally opened to the public.
“The kids are really excited to be in here," said Gallatin High and Bozeman High athletic director Mark Ator. "It's great to be a part of something new.”
On Monday, students stepped foot inside the school for the first time, eager to play sports in the new facilities.
“As you can see today we have open gym volleyball going on, and they’ll have open gym basketball going on right after that," Ator said.
Ator was already thinking about how great the main gym, which has a 2,500-person capacity, is for future events.
“As you can see, the gym is beautiful, it’s well-lit," Ator said. "It’s colorful. It’s going to be a great place for events in the future. We’ll be hosting divisional volleyball next year and divisional basketball. We’re going to get this facility in use right away.”
Despite the school opening to the public on Monday, there's still plenty of work that needs to be done, such as getting weightlifting equipment, which was delayed due to the high demand of weights during COVID-19.
“There’s still construction going on, so there’s limited access," Ator said. "We have access to our gym right now, we are still working on the weight room.”
Ator said the plan is for the school to be completed by Aug. 13 or 14 when sports are scheduled to officially start back up. But for right now, it’s just nice to have court time for the new coaches.
“The coaches for Gallatin High wanted a chance to get in this building and establish their culture and get things rolling," said Ator. "That’s what we’re doing.”
