El Monte High Gym Opens Next Month

Next month, for the first time since the October, 1987, Whittier earthquake, El Monte High School students will have a full-sized gymnasium of their own, El Monte Union High School District officials said this week.

The $2.4-million facility replaces a 50-year-old wood structure that had to be torn down after the temblor.

In the interim, the basketball team has used a community gym. This season, the team played all its pre-conference games on the road. Seniors have never played in their own gym, said Assistant Supt. Dave Sandell.

For most of 1990, while crews were removing asbestos from the locker rooms, the 2,675 students in the district’s largest high school lacked even a place to dress.

“We had to improvise an awful lot.” Sandell said. “It was difficult for students and teachers alike.”

The new gym will include a regulation-size basketball court with bleachers on both sides. There will also be setups for badminton and volleyball courts and a room for aerobics, wrestling and weight work in addition to a snack bar and ticket office, Sandell said.

State funds paid for 75%; the district supplied the rest. The money ran out before locker rooms for visiting teams could be completed. Sandell said the district will finish those as its budget permits.