The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

When it rains, it pours. At least most of the time.

It rained inside Lake Roosevelt High School's gym last week - that's right, inside.

Circumstances and a winter rain caught school officials off guard and it resulted in a wet gym floor that led to the cancellation of a basketball game Nov. 25.

The old gym is scheduled for a new roof and new look, but a couple of things got in the way.

School officials had scheduled a new roof for the gym but had to wait to see if there would be enough money left in the construction fund to do the job. The firm testing the material on the existing roof at first thought they would be free to put the roof on over the old one. But after getting into the material, they found that there was too much asbestos, and the old roofing would have to be removed by specialists trained in handling the material that is considered a health hazard. And that would cost more money.

The final word, according to Superintendent Dennis Carlson, is that the asbestos removal will be underway this week and contractors will be right behind them with the new roofing material.

When the rains came last week, plastic materials were placed over the top of the gym, and inside the gym to direct the water to where it could be handled.

The new facelift will match the roof of the new school complex and the new siding will also match.

Carlson stated that the gym roof and siding will come in at $921,509. The project will include matching siding for the old high school administration building. The old administrative roof will have to wait a year or two before it is redone to match the roof on the new complex, Carlson stated.

The problem has interupted basketball activity again this week at the gym. Home games for the LR girls' and boys' basketball teams Thursday against Entiat will now be held in that school's facility.

Last week, the annual kickoff Crimson and Gold game with alumni was canceled. But last night's jamboree with several schools at the gym was scheduled to continue, with clear skies above.

This was not the first instance of the old roof leaking. Rain interupted a volleyball game in 2010, a fact often cited in the push to find funding for a new school. When that funding came from the state, however, a new gym was not included. The school district is still looking for about $9 million to accomplish that goal.