Superintendent: Long Road Ahead for Brooklyn Center High School Court Repairs
The Brooklyn Center High School’s main gym is showing signs of aging. CCX News recently reported the court closed for use after excessive moisture was discovered in the concrete under the gym floor surface. There’s no timeline on what’s next leading to community leaders voicing concerns about what this means for the school.
Originally, Brooklyn Center Superintendent Carly Baker said the district noticed a small buckle in the court over the summer. At the time, it was a small, concentrated area outside of the volleyball court’s boundaries, so the district coned it off for the fall.
Initially, Baker said the district planned and budgeted for a patch replacement. However, when the buckles began to move, Baker realized there may be a bigger problem underneath the surface.
“We didn’t want to just put a patch over it. Because it would not solve the larger issue, and it wouldn’t address any safety concerns,” Baker said.
Baker said the flooring vendor, H2I, and engineers came in to look over and test the flooring over MEA break. After that, it was clear the gym had to close in November 2025. Baker said the gym is currently closed and half torn-up. That’s because part of the concrete was measured at 95-99 percent humidity.
Baker said the Institute for Environmental Assessment came in and tested the court, walls and bleachers. No mold was found anywhere in the space, but the high-moisture court was still a safety concern.
“I cannot, in good conscience, leave a space open for student use, whether it be competitive play, or whether it be instructional time,” Baker said. “It’s not worth it. I’m not willing to put students in jeopardy over that.”
Half of the Brooklyn Center gym is torn up. Baker said the concrete was tested to have 95-99% humidity. (Courtesy Brandon Krona)
Teaching Challenges
Typically, the gym is used for extracurriculars like basketball and volleyball, but it also serves hundreds of Brooklyn Center High School students for their physical education classes. Baker said, for now, they’ve been able to find alternative spaces to host those classes. She says it has been hard on everyone.
Brooklyn Center head basketball coach Brandon Krona feels these hardships. Krona told CCX that this year’s been particularly challenging for his boys because all 26 of their games are on the road this season. That leaves them without things that typically happen at home games, such as senior nights and teacher appreciation nights.
Krona said his team can do drills in a practice gym at the school, but it’s much too small of a space to play a full game.
“We know that basketball and athletics is a short period of time, and our goal is to make sure we shape young men and women in our communities to be prepared for the real world,” Krona said.
Krona told CCX his biggest concern is communication.
“I’ve always said this: If we fail to shine a light on our student athletes’ potential, they’ll continue to be left in the darkness,” Krona said. “I think the district has an obligation to make sure that we continue to shine that light on our student athletes.”
“Everybody deserves answers, and I feel like we fell short of that as a district,” Krona said.
The students are practicing in another gym on school property– one that’s too small to host games.
What Comes Next
Superintendent Baker said she has some answers, but mainly says that doing it right is going to take time.
“Tearing up an entire cement slab to repour it is a very large undertaking,” Baker said. “Patience is going to be really critical in order to make sure that the product is done correctly.”
She said for next steps, she hopes to hold a meeting that get everyone involved in one space: insurance adjusters, engineers, H2I, staff, the athletic director and the principal.
For now, it’s what she called a “hurry up and wait” period. Work will likely not wrap up until late spring or early summer, but even that timeline is not confirmed.
“To not have the use of our beautiful gym space, it’s hard. It’s tough for kids,” Baker said. “I think I speak for everyone when we say we would love we would love to have our gym open, and have our centaurs playing basketball in it, and have all our babies in there for their PE classes. So, as soon as that can safely happen, we’re all about it,” Baker said.
Superintendent Carly Baker works at her computer. This is her ninth year in the role.
Brooklyn Center High School
