An investment in the next 100 years: New locker rooms unveiled at LHS

LACONIA — Dank, cramped, immodest: whatever derogatory term you would use to describe your high school’s locker room, it would have likely applied to those at Laconia High School. Now, after a thorough renovation that took place all school year, different descriptors come to mind.

“They’re gorgeous,” senior Ethan Byington, athlete and student representative on the school board, said at a meeting on May 6.

The locker room renovations are part of a larger $10 million project, paid for largely through federal Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief funds, which previously included updates to the school’s bathrooms and cafeteria, and will also result in improvements to air handling systems. A little less than 30% of the total cost will come from reserve accounts.

On a tour of the newly renovated locker rooms, Athletic Director Craig Kozens said the previous space was designed for a bygone era, when teams and gym classes showered en masse, and when students didn’t carry as much stuff around school with them.

When used by today’s students, that meant no one wanted to use the communal showers, backpacks couldn’t fit in the narrow lockers, it was difficult to keep an eye on students due to the rows and rows of lockers, and teams would have to find an unused classroom to go over film or have meetings.

Then there was the smell. There was little in the way of air handling in the locker rooms, which led to some unsavory circumstances.

“The main reason we did this was the lack of air flow. The scent in August would permeate to the second and third floors,” Kozens said.

The renovated space boasts an open floor plan in the locker rooms, with a cushioned flooring so the rooms could be used for something like a yoga class. Benches aren’t fixed to the floor, so they can be moved around the room, and each room has white marker boards which slide to reveal a television screen, so teams can study film or go over game plans.

The lockers, which are built into the exterior walls of the rooms, are larger. Kozens said they will not only accommodate a contemporary school bag, they will also fit something as large as a baseball bat or lacrosse stick.

Gone are the group showers, which fell out of favor long ago. Students today are much more modest when it comes to nudity among their peers — Kozens suspects it has to do with the prevalence of cellphone cameras — and the new locker rooms provide for privacy. There are stalls for people to change behind the privacy of a curtain, and the showers are also shielded by curtains.

The renovations also created more storage space, as well as a specific locker room for use by coaches or referees. The locker rooms also now have direct access from the exterior of the building, which will be useful for visiting teams.

Nearly every student will take a physical education class, and about 30% of the student body will participate in a team sport during their time at LHS.

Combined with the new cafeteria, new bathrooms and air handling systems, the renovations have “made a world of difference for the kids,” said Lisa Hinds, LHS principal.

Diane Clary, business administrator for the district, noted the high school recently celebrated its centennial, "and these improvements will continue to hold this facility as our flagship. Keeping the history of this building means a great deal to Laconia and to the students, staff and families that visit it everyday."