Rockwood Parents Spruce Up Eureka Locker Rooms

The boys’ locker room at Eureka High School recently received a thorough cleaning, a fresh coat of paint and new benches, all courtesy of the football program’s booster club.

Eureka Athletics Director Jason Green said it’s a big improvement to the area, and one that will have a tangible benefit for students in the fall.

“It gives them a sense of pride to walk into something that is jazzed up a little,” he said.

However, the sprucing up is still far short of addressing the kind of issues that have long been a point of contention for some parents and students. The locker rooms were built in 1971 when the school was much smaller and have had problems with overcrowding and accessibility.

A $1.6 million renovation of the Eureka locker rooms was one of the projects included in the $38.4 million bond issue that failed at the polls this spring.

At a meeting July 18, Rockwood School Board President Bill Brown thanked the club for putting in the “seat equity and elbow grease."

Brown added that while some people were disappointed the district had not done more, he was grateful for the parents and community for stepping forward.

The locker room is used by the high school’s athletes throughout the year, including football and wrestling.  There is a separate facility that students access for physical education classes, Green said.

The parents and other members of the club performed the work over the Fourth of July weekend, pulling out light fixtures to clean behind them, painting the lockers a vibrant purple and installing the new benches. Engraved with words “Eureka High School,” Green said the benches were a donation from a company that employs one of the boosters.

Green credited the booster club for its close involvement with the district and said its members are up at the school “on a daily basis.”