MILWAUKEE -- Alverno College's Reiman Gymnasium recently received a facelift as a fresh new look was given to the hardwood floor over the past month which included a repainting and resurfacing of the entire playing area. The gym serves as the Inferno's home for hosting basketball and volleyball contests.
Some minor repairs were done to the floor after a water pipe burst during the winter and caused some damage to several of the hardwood boards. Alverno College Director of Athletics Brad Duckworth took the opportunity to enhance the playing surface and give it a new appearance.
"The quality of our facilities at Alverno College has continued to increase exponentially," Duckworth said. "The gym is our indoor earmark. Although it was functional, we wanted to turn this into something that not only our student-athletes would be proud of but our entire campus would be. We certainly achieved that with the new look."
The work on the floor was done by Jason Thomas Flooring, a Milwaukee-based company that created playing surfaces used in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Tournament including at Lucas Oil Stadium for the Final Four.
"The floor looks great," Duckworth said. "I think the work that Jason Thomas Flooring did exceeded expectations."
One of the highlights is the large watermark of the Alverno 'A' logo that spans from sideline to sideline in the center of the court. A smaller full-color version of the 'A' overlays the watermark at mid-court.Additionally there is a subtle fade of black to red in two of the corners bordering the playing surface. The new design also includes logos of the Inferno's affiliations, the NCAA and Northern Athletics Conference.
The first competition on the floor will be a home volleyball match that will take place in the fall as the Inferno host a triangular versus Lawrence University and Northland International University on September 8. The Alverno basketball team has its 2010-11 home-opener on November 19 versus Northland College in the Alverno Tip-Off Classic.
