'The dust is starting to settle' as million-dollar locker room renovation at War Memorial moves forward

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Demolition work is nearly complete on the nearly $1 million 1st Summit Arena @ Cambria County War Memorial locker room renovation project. Once the rollover is complete, the rebuild will begin.

“Once that happens, we’ll start to accelerate,” Chris Glessner, chairman of the Cambria County War Memorial Authority, said after the authority’s board approved the change orders routine and payments to contractors at a special meeting Monday.

“You’ll see the flooring coming in, the plumbing coming in, the bathrooms. We’re starting to get to that point where the dust is starting to settle and we’re going to finish the job, which will be pretty exciting.

The goal is to complete the project – currently estimated to have a price tag of $984,233, funded through a state grant – by the end of September, in time for hockey season.

“This is another good improvement to the facility,” Cambria County Commissioner Thomas Chernisky said. “There are women and guys who play hockey and use the facilities. There is nothing wrong with upgrading facilities.

“The War Memorial Authority Board of Directors is thinking outside the box. They think about the future. They are upgrading the facilities and doing good things.

The redevelopment will provide hockey players, other athletes and artists such as touring musicians with clean, modern facilities, officials said.

“We are reconfiguring all five locker rooms to accommodate the current size of the (hockey) teams,” Glessner said.

“When these halls were built, there were 10 players per team. Now teams have 18 players, so you need more space. The equipment is much bigger. The children are also older. We needed to make sure the rooms would be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, so the bathrooms were all ADA compliant.

The new alignment will also create changing rooms that will be used by girls when competing in mixed events, unlike in the past, where they had to be placed in a smaller space.

“It just wasn’t fair to them,” Glessner said. “It’s good to see we’re going to level the playing field.”

Dave Sutor is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be contacted at (814) 532-5056. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Sutor.