This summer, construction will start on a new weight room for this school, but this weight “room” will not really be just a room; it will be a facility. According to Athletics Director Jim Inskeep, the idea for a new weight room was proposed eight years ago.

“We have been discussing this since 2004, so it’s not a new concept altogether,” Inskeep said. “It has actually been on some of the capital projects for years. As other needs have come up in the school district, it has just kept being pushed back further and further.”

The weight room will be a two-story facility located in the fieldhouse lot. While construction is planned to start this summer, the facility will not be ready for use until the start of the 2013-14 school year.

According to Aaron Bosket, head strength and conditioning coach at CHS, the new weight room is a necessity.

“Oh, I think (a new weight room) is absolutely necessary for a school of this size. We need a lot more space for the size of this school and the number of athletes that we have,” Bosket said.

On the first floor of the facility, there will be a weight room which will be twice the size of the current weight room and updated with all of the latest exercise technology. The ceiling height will be increased and windows will be added. The new second floor will have two parts. The first part is two full-length wood floor basketball courts, and the second part is an elevated running track that overlooks the basketball courts. According to Inskeep, it will resemble the basketball court and track configuration that is currently used at the Monon Center.

According to Bosket, the best part about the new weight room will be the extra space to facilitate classes.

“What I worry about is the safety aspect of getting too bunched in together, trying to fit too many people in a room like that where you have barbells and dumbbells flying around, so there is a high-risk potential for the student-athletes,” Bosket said. “The new facility will have a lot of the same things in it, but it will have more space.”

Inskeep said his favorite part about the new weight room facility will be the benefits that it will bring to all of this school’s athletic programs.

“We do the best that we can with really limited facilities as it relates to conditioning and weight training, and our current weight room is literally the size of a lot of 1A and 2A schools in the state and we have got 1,200 student athletes. So as we continue to have more and more success with our programs, the need and numbers in those programs will rise,” Inskeep said.

Chris Johnson, varsity lacrosse player and junior, uses the weight room in APC and said he thinks the weight room will be a great addition to Carmel High School.

“I’m excited for the size of the new weight room, as this will allow more people into the room and will allow space for more equipment. There will be so much room for activities,” Johnson said via email.
Bosket said he anticipates a positive impact from the new facility.

“I think that it will make the athletes stronger because it will automatically increase our weight training efficiency and we can get a lot more done in even less time,” he said. “Another positive (aspect) is it will increase the number and variety of movements that we can do.”