Montezuma-Cortez High School’s indoor athletic teams have a new place to call home.

Located at 418 S. Sligo St., the new high school boasts a 13,649-squre-foot gymnasium.

It will be a big change compared with the 9,800-square-foot Ron Wright Memorial Gym, which hosted M-CHS events since 1967.

However, upon entering the new gymnasium, students will be welcomed by the familiar “M-CHS” and “Panthers” logos on the bleachers and baseline.

And at mid-court is the new Panther logo, established last year during the school’s rebranding.

There are energy-efficient lights overhead. But even when they are off, the natural light seeping in from the windows illuminates the building and glistens on the freshly sealed maple floor.

There are also air ducts and speakers above. The air ducts allow the school to have more control over the climate in the gymnasium, and will keep the gym cool during games with large crowds or during camps hosted in the summer heat.

The speakers are part of the school’s new sound system, and along with the sound barriers, they condense the noise toward the court.

Principal Jason Wayman claimed that the sound system, bleachers, lighting and climate control will all contribute to creating a positive environment during sporting events.

“I think it will be a nicer atmosphere,” he said. “The bleachers are a little bit nicer, we’ve got a better sound system, stuff like that. It will allow us to try and look into ways to improve the games and settings, because we have more opportunities now.”

Athletic Director Stacey Hall noted that the bleachers seat 1,800 people and the concession stand is located directly out the gym doors, but she believes the biggest feature is the amount of space there will be between the teams’ benches and the first row of bleachers.

“The fans will not have to walk in front of the bench anymore,” Hall said, explaining the difficulty fans had reaching their seats at Ron Wright Memorial Gym. “There is enough room that they will go behind the bench.”

The gym will provide a great environment during games, but it also offers more practice opportunities.

The gym itself has two full-length basketball courts running side-to-side. There’s also an adjoining auxiliary gym with another full-legnth court.

“Having a third gym allows more of our teams to practice at the same time,” said Hall. “Instead of having early and late practices.”

There’s also a training room, weight room and multipurpose room.

M-CHS has hired Colby Smith as a full-time trainer, and the new training room and table will allow him to efficiently care for athletes’ aches and pains.

The weight room has direct access outside, which will allow teams to combine weight training with outdoor workouts.

With a matted floor and mirrors on the walls, the multipurpose room is conducive for wrestling, cheerleading or dance team practices.

Fall sports begin practicing on Monday, Aug. 17, and the gym holds its first regular season competition on Sept. 1, when the M-CHS volleyball team hosts Bayfield.

Plans for athletic stadium on hold

After the completion of the new school, the district will begin to address future plans for a new athletic stadium.

Although there is no room on the site for softball and baseball fields, there are layouts for a stadium that would host football, soccer and track competitions.

“Right now, we’ve got funding for more than half of it,” said superintendent Alex Carter. “About seventy-percent.”

“We passed a bond in 2012,” he said. “And we’re looking to get the rest of the money. I’d love to break ground next spring if the money is there.”

If the school were able to begin construction in the spring of 2016, the aim would be to open the new stadium for sports in the spring of 2017.

“That’s the ultimate goal,” Carter said. “It’s an ambitious goal, and it’s all dependent upon getting the funding.”

Another focus of Carter’s will be determining how the old high school can be reused.

“There’s a lot of potential in that building,” he said. “Now that we can start to take our focus off building the new school, we’re trying to figure out exactly what we want to do.”

Coaches weigh in on facilities

Andi Pickens, Volleyball

“It seems like a lot more space. That’s exciting for in-season and off-season.”

John McHenry, Girls basketball

“It will be an improvement just because we’ll have two gyms to work with. We’ll have the ability to have all our practices at once instead of one in the morning and one in the afternoon.”

Mike Hall, Boys basketball

“It’ll be nice now to have two full-length courts that we can actually get some good practice and good running in.”

Shad Bellimire, Wrestling

“The wrestling room is much larger. It’s a mat-and-a-half I believe. So that will be very beneficial with the number of kids.”

Teaa Warinner, Dance

“I’m excited to have a bigger space, because our team has grown. Last year we had 14 and this year we have 23.”