The Greenbrier Hotel has hosted a plethora of events over its years of existence. From celebrities gracing the halls, to NFL teams practicing, to the Greenbrier Classic golf tournament, the Hotel is a major destination and recognized all over the country by almost everyone.
Now it can add something to the list.
A basketball arena in Colonial Hall.
This weekend, February 4 and 5, there will be a high school basketball tournament inside the actual hotel. The tournament is called “The Battle for the Springhouse” and will feature four boys and four girls teams. The Greenbrier East Lady Spartans will be one of those teams. One player from each team will also be awarded with a scholarship for his or her future choice in education at the conclusion of the tourney.
But the tournament itself has been discussed in other publications for the last couple of weeks so let’s talk about the design and the specifications of the beautiful floor that was laid down last week.
The floor is press kiln dried beech wood and is made in Koge, Denmark by Junckers Flooring Company.
It is huge, and is the size of an NBA regulation floor and measures 114 feet by 74 feet. The floor is comprised of 741 individual precut flooring panels and is the same material used in arenas such as New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The Greenbrier’s Engineering Supervisor, Dewey Taylor and his crew worked tirelessly over a couple days time to put the floor down to make this event possible.
“Installation took about 14 hours this time, but we hope to reduce installation time for future installation,” Taylor said.
“We had a crew of 10 people including myself, and a Juncker’s rep from Denmark, Thomas Flindt,” Taylor explained.
Even though things were not 100 percent silky smooth, Taylor said that a lot was learned during installation which will help in the future when laying the floor down each time.
“We definitely had to work some kinks out when assembling the court the first time, but with the adjustments we made it should be less difficult to put together each time we use it. But, overall it was a simple process,” Taylor stated.
The belief around the hotel is that spectators are going to be super impressed upon entering the facility.
“The Juncker’s flooring is of the highest quality available. It really is a beautiful floor,” Taylor said.
“I believe it is the nicest basketball court I’ve seen, he continued.”
The finishing touches were added to the court just a couple days ago by Prater’s Flooring Company. The company out of Chattanooga, Tennessee put down the lines and floor decals, and also provided the rims. They are used in the NCAA March Madness Tournament as well.
The first game of the Springhouse tournament will be Friday, February 4 at 2:00 PM between the Bridgeport Lady Indians and the Martinsburg Lady Bulldogs.
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| Sneak peek of the basketball floor in Colonial Hall prior to the lines and decals |
