By Kathryn Snyder / Staff Writer

By Kathryn Snyder / Staff Writer

The Riverside City College Wheelock Gym will be standing strong for many years to come.

The renovation of the new Gymnasium is growing as students have dealt with the dust and debris of construction at the east side of campus for the past few months. 

The process of updating the gym for the RCC Tigers is long, but after almost 100 years of use by sports such as basketball and volleyball, a facelift is on the way for those athletes.

Tidwell construction is in the process of rebuilding the gym.

A construction worker in the process of renovating the gym said it should be done in about six months.

They are working on making the gym earthquake safe, so students, faculty and staff are able to continue using it for many years to come.

Since the college has been around since 1916, it is mandatory to renovate the structure to insure its safety.

The San Andreas Fault is close by and there are many other fault lines that run across the City of Riverside.

The new gym is going to be three stories tall, with an elevator for better handicapped accessibility. 

The new design looks larger, and more efficient than the current gym, with updated seats, scoreboards and equipment, not to mention better offices for coaches. 

Michelle Daddona, coach of the woman’s fastpitch team is enjoying the remodeling of the gym.

The remodel allows her to have air conditioning in her temporary office while they are building the new gym, which also will have an air conditioning system. 

Alicia Berber, head coach of the women’s basketball team, and a former student of RCC is excited to see the gym being remodeled. 

She jokingly said that the only difference now is practice is being held at the Huntley Gym, which is smaller.

So it just means that the team has to run extra hard to make up for it. 

Riverside City College athletes are excited to see the new gym after it is built. It should be finished in the next six months.