Pahoa High Gym Getting Locker and Shower Rooms

Locker and shower rooms will be installed at the new gymnasium at Pahoa High and Intermediate School thanks to the release today of funding approved last year by state lawmakers.

The $3.5 million appropriation, which will also add wrestling facilities, was part of $65.6 million released by Gov. Neil Abercrombie for school projects statewide.

The gym with a 1,000-seat capacity was opened in March 2012, replacing a county gym that had been in use by the school since 1942.

The funding released today includes $25.9 million for a new auditorium at King Kekaulike High School on Maui and $15 million for modernization of the campus at Farrington High School on Oahu.

Money released for other Big Island projects includes $550,000 for addition of parking stalls, curb cuts, ramps and other projects at Kohala High School required by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and $500,000 to replace the locker room and other renovations at Hilo Intermediate School.

The funding is in addition to $62.4 million released by the governor last month for other Department of Education projects.