The Manteca High small gym will soon be history.

A contract to demolish the small gym to make way for a new swimming pool as well as a new main gym will be considered by the Manteca Unified School Board when they meet Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The $798,000 leaseback contract is with CT Brayton Construction of Escalon. It will also include site related work to prep for the next phase that will include the new main gym, the swimming pool, and additional classrooms.

The school board also is expected to OK a leaseback with F&H Construction for $6.3 million worth of work for the next phase of modernizing East Union High. Work includes interior classroom and restroom renovations, a new fire alarm system, paging system, and security fencing.

Both projects are being funded with Measure G bond proceeds.

The Manteca High replacement 25-meter swimming pool will be built roughly where the small gym is located.

The new main gym capable of seating 2,161 people is being built where the old swimming pool was located and will protrude into what is now a closed section of Garfield Avenue.

The Buffalo’s first gym completed in 1922 was the proverbial cat’s meow of the time. The “gym” was on top of the stage in the new auditorium that could seat 550 people “in handsome comfortable opera chairs”. The stage — 76 feet in length — included a net to avoid basketballs from flying into the seats and prevent “human beings falling into the orchestra pit.” Despite the net, people did end up fall into the orchestra pit prompting it to be removed.

The new gym — expected to break ground sometime in the next school year that also marks Manteca High’s centennial — will seat four times as many people as that first gym. The capacity of 2,161 people is almost triple the 700 that the Winter Gym can now accommodate. It will allow Manteca High to hold the entire ultimate student body enrollment of the campus that is being modernized to accommodate. Currently Manteca High has to have a “wave” of three assemblies instead of one for school-wide assemblies for its 1,600 students.

The new gym will consist of concrete masonry block construction similar to the Measure G school bond project that placed a multipurpose building at nearby Lincoln School.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of the new gym is the open feel created by a glass wall between the lobby and the gym. This will not only allow for more natural light but it will significantly increase security and safety as on duty administrators during events will be able to see more areas.

That design feature was one of many incorporated into the Manteca High redesign that were gleaned from numerous meetings with faculty, the community, and students.

At the same time fans lingering in the lobby will be able to watch games while they are either in line at the snack bar or simply milling in the lobby.

The lobby area will also have a ticket booth, snack bar and restrooms. The gym will include restrooms as well.

The gym will have the latest LED lighting and will at least be wired — if not having actual solar power panels in place — when the gym is built.

The front entrance will face to the east where Garfield Avenue now runs. The southern part of Garfield Avenue will eventually led into a roundabout to serve as a drop-off point. The entrance to the new swimming pool will be adjacent to the new gym.

One of the existing locker rooms at the Winter Gym will be updated. The other locker room will be converted to an aerobics room. The current woodshop will be converted into a weight room.

Work on the initial phase — the creation of the first part of a “pedestrian promenade” from the football stadium to where the new gym is being built — has been completed. That project also involved the relocation of the softball field next to the football stadium adjacent to the baseball fields with the outfields almost touching each other.

The $42 million project includes bond funds for modernization and safety upgrades as well as development fees and residual redevelopment agency money for improvements needed to accommodate growth.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com