Thursday evening the Keystone School District opened the Heath Gym in honor of basketball coach Greg Heath, who has been the Panthers coach for 40 years.
The replacement of the 40 year-old gym floor was accomplished through the donation of Keystone alumni Brian Coll.
“I am extremely proud and happy to see the gymnasium floor project come to a close,” said Coll. “Being an alumni of Keystone, (Class of 1991), it was a tremendous honor for my wife Renee and I to donate the funds to make this project happen. We look forward to seeing the students at Keystone High School enjoy their new state of the art gymnasium floor.”
“I really want to thank the school board and the administration for accepting the gift and allowing us to do the project. Hopefully we will be able to do future capital projects of a similar nature. That way people can donate and get the tax credit,” said Mason.
Mason said the project saved the school district a quarter million dollars of taxpayer money that can be used elsewhere. “This is something the school district would have had to do in the next five or 10 years,” said Mason.
“We are in the process right now of upgrading the foundation’s website and we would really like to reach out to other potential donors who would like to leave a legacy,” said Mason.
The gym is named for the current Keystone basketball coach, Greg Heath. “It is a well deserved honor,” said Mason. “It is sad to me that we honor people after they are gone. Greg was very hesitant to do this but it is the right thing to be done. And it is what the donor wanted.”
“I am just pleased with the way the gym looks,” said Heath.
Heath was given the honor of making the first basket on the new floor.