Williamsburg's high school gym is a new home for the Wildcats: a refinished maple floor with a Wildcat center-court logo, new motorized bleachers for more than 1,100 fans, bright LED lighting to OHSAA Division 1 levels with show lighting over the court, a new sound system and acoustic panels to cut the echo, new goals with shot clocks, and fresh paint from the floor to the roof deck. Prodigy delivered it for Williamsburg Local Schools in 2026 through the TOP-C cooperative contract, alongside a companion refresh of the locker rooms.
When the district wanted a new center-court logo, signature-script Ed Stewart Court lettering and automatic bleacher handrails partway through, the changes were folded into the same contract with a simple amendment. For a district thinking about its own gym, Williamsburg shows how much a refresh can change without building new.
Williamsburg's high school gym is a new home for the Wildcats: a refinished maple floor with a Wildcat center-court logo, new motorized bleachers for more than 1,100 fans, bright LED lighting to OHSAA Division 1 levels with show lighting over the court, a new sound system and acoustic panels to cut the echo, new goals with shot clocks, and fresh paint from the floor to the roof deck. Prodigy delivered it for Williamsburg Local Schools in 2026 through the TOP-C cooperative contract, alongside a companion refresh of the locker rooms.
When the district wanted a new center-court logo, signature-script Ed Stewart Court lettering and automatic bleacher handrails partway through, the changes were folded into the same contract with a simple amendment. For a district thinking about its own gym, Williamsburg shows how much a refresh can change without building new.
Technical Discussion
Sanding a maple floor instead of replacing it
When a gym floor looks tired, the instinct is to price a new one. A new floor means tearing out the maple, often the subfloor too, and weeks of lead time and installation. Most of the time the wood itself is not the problem. The finish and the lines are, and those are what a sand-and-refinish replaces.
Figure 1: What a sanding removes, and the order the new finish goes back on. Life-cycle figures from the Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association.
What a maple floor has left
The Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association puts the math plainly: a standard 25/32-inch maple floor, properly maintained and sanded by a skilled contractor, can take up to six full sandings in its life, and with a sanding every 8 to 12 years it can last more than 75 years. Each sanding takes off the old finish, the old paint and a thin layer of wood. The MFMA also notes that waiting too long works against the floor, because a thick buildup of finish forces a more aggressive cut.
Fixing the holes instead of hiding them
Williamsburg's floor had four old volleyball plates in places the new layout no longer needed. Rather than leave covers in the playing surface, the crew toothed in new maple, removing boards in a staggered pattern and weaving new strips in so the patch follows the grain and the board joints of the floor around it. After sanding, the repair reads as floor, not as a plug. Six new volleyball plates, supplied by the district, went in where the new layout needs them.
Why the lines go on in the middle
The order of coats matters. The bare wood gets a water-based sealer first, then the game lines, border, lettering and logos are painted onto the sealed floor, and then two water-based topcoats go over everything. The sealer keeps the paint from bleeding into the grain, and the topcoats put the lines under the same wear layer as the wood, so they do not scuff off the first time a team runs drills. Water-based systems also dry faster, give off far less odor and yellow less over time than older oil-modified finishes, which is part of why many schools now choose them.
Keeping it that way
A refinished floor still needs an annual screen and recoat, a light abrasion and a fresh topcoat that renews the wear layer without touching the wood. Do that every year, sand every decade or so, and the maple under Williamsburg's new logo can outlast the building's next several renovations.
