MARTINSVILLE, Va. – In a couple of years, there could be a new "community gym" in Martinsville.
The city's school superintendent, Dr. Zeb Talley, wants to build it at the high school.
Right now, the high school does not have a gym, only a small building used for PE classes.
"(The gym will be) a community facility so that our young people will have places to go on the weekends, so we can host events like concerts. There's a lot of money leaving our town because everything we have is regional. We have to have it somewhere else. We can't have it here," Talley said.
The school district's athletic director, Tommy Golding, said a gym would make hosting school sporting events much easier.
Currently, high school athletes have to use the middle school gym.
"Logistically, it's crazy, especially when you're traveling and you've got an early game. We're going to have to go interrupt the middle school PE classes. We have to go down and get our equipment," Golding said.
The cost of the gym has not been determined.
Talley hopes to have it open in 2022.