Worthen Arena Facts
Capacity - 11,500
Opened - 1991
Used for - Basketball, Volleyball
The current floor has been in use since the doors to the gym opened in 1991. Ball State is putting in a new maple floor as part of a repair-and-replace system.
"It's a resilient floor system, which means it deflects when people jump on it," Dan Byrnes, Director of Sports Facilities, said. "Performance-wise, it's a very friendly floor for athletes in terms of being resilient ... which helps the athletes and their joints; and their performance as well."
Ball State has been saving money for the replacement since the current floor has been in place. State funds aren't used for recreation and athletic facility repairs, so the university puts money away knowing the floor has a certain life.
Worthen Arena's floor replacement project was awarded $305,000.
Byrnes said the renovation is on-schedule and is set to be complete by about July 10. Graduation is July 18, so it's critical that the floor is done by then.
The crew is about halfway done laying the maple down on the floor.
After the floor is laid, the branding takes place. The new surface will look similar to the previous one in terms of the Cardinal head in the middle and the Mid-American Conference logos in the lanes.
Each NCAA school is required to have certain markings on the floor that fit in with the game. These markings include the 3-point line and those in the lane.
The floor renovation was scheduled when Ball State athletic director Mark Sandy arrived at the school in February.
He said the new floor will serve as a great benefit to the athletic programs that use it.
"When you improve your facilities, you bring not only the new quality to the floor but how it will look — sort of an updated branding scheme on the floor. It helps the fans see improvement and it helps with recruiting," Sandy said.
Ball State is looking to reap the benefits of its new gym floor when it is completed this summer.
"We got 25 years out of this floor," Byrnes said. "We hope to get even more years out of this new floor for the future ... some floors last 40 to 50 years. It all depends on how well you take care of it, and we do a good job of it I think."
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