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By COLIN HICKEY, Staff Writer Tuesday, June 19, 2007

enlarge Staff photo by David Leaming

NEW WOOD: A pile of sub-flooring lies on Sunday in the corner where workers have stripped wood off the basketball court at Wadsworth Gymnasium at Colby College in Waterville.

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But not this year.

This year the floor is gone, the victim of a water leakage problem that left the court too warped to be playable, college officials said.

Work crews removed the floor's hardwood surface last week, but the project is a long way from being done and is likely to cost several hundred thousand dollars, Colby physical plant director Patricia Murphy said.

"We are still doing some investigative work," Murphy said. "There is no question that the floor is not salvageable. What we are doing right now is investigating the sub-floor."

College spokesman Stephen B. Collins said Colby is insured for at least a part of the cost.

Colby realized a problem existed about two months ago.

"We discovered water under the floor just after the Patriots Day northeaster went through," Colby Athletic Director Marcella Zalot said.

Murphy said the Patriots Day storm definitely is a contributing factor to the damage and probably the biggest.

"All indications at this point are that we had some water intrusion problems from groundwater," Murphy said, "but they had been fairly insignificant. We also had a problem with a (water line) but fairly insignificant."

Murphy said the college initially tried to undo the damage through a dehumidification process only to find that the warping was irreversible.

The Wadsworth Gymnasium floor is a multi-level construction. The top two layers -- the hardwood surface and attached wooden sub-floor -- have been dismantled. An asphalt coating and the concrete beneath that coating remain, she said -- the concrete sits on bare ground.

Murphy said the first goal is to get a full understanding of what caused the water damage.

"We are working with some geo-technical engineers," she said, "and hoping to get our determination in the next week or so."

Zalot said Colby still plans to hold its summer basketball camps for children despite the loss of the court.

"We are putting down portable courts in the ice rink," she said, "and I believe there will be one in the field house."

The timetable on having a replacement floor completed is uncertain. Zalot said the hope is to have one installed by September so that volleyball competitions scheduled for the first two weekends of that month can take place.

"It all depends on what they have to take up in terms of concrete," she said. "If the concrete has to come up, we are talking into October."

Colin Hickey -- 861-9205

chickey@centralmaine.com

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