We had the privilege of working with The Ohio Wesleyan University Athletic Department and Marker Construction as they renovated Branch Rickey Arena, the main basketball facility on campus.
The old flooring was removed, and a brand-new, high-end Connor Sports Floor System was installed, The Focus flooring system.
What goes into choosing a flooring system? Most schools are looking at finding a balance between performance and budget. And when you are a university fighting to sign highly talented recruits, performance is a big priority. OWU found themselves in that situation. They play in the highly competitive North Coast Athletic Conference, where attracting top recruits is a challenge. Two other conference schools recently had new flooring systems installed by The Ohio Floor Company, College of Wooster and Wittenberg University. OWU needed to pick a flooring system that was as good or better than their competition, so they decided to upgrade to the Focus system, one of the top flooring systems on the market.
The Focus system is a premium flooring system featuring proprietary and patented Athletic Response Ridge technology that provides consistent multi-athlete resilience and comfort. Specifications are Sectional Channel Anchorage, Plywood Panel Subfloor, and Lineal Pad Resilience. Some features and benefits of the Focus system include pre-assembled subfloor panels, lineal two stage pad performance, heavy-duty sectional channel anchorage, protective resilient pad housing, and unique supporting subfloor design.
Details of the Branch Rickey Arena new wood floor:
- Installation of 6mil plastic over the concrete subfloor.
- Wood subfloor system install to be flush with concrete.
- Install ¼" plywood blocking under hoops, pathways, and bleachers.
- Install First Grade Edge Grain ¾" x 2 ¼" maple flooring.
- Sand entire new wood flooring to produce a flat playing surface.
- Stain three-point areas and NCAC logos in keys.
- Apply two coats of sealer to seal up wood and stain.
- Paint basketball and volleyball game lines.
- Paint boarder around playing surface, and paint OWU logo at center court.
- Paint crosscourt basketball lines outside of main court boarder.
- Apply two coats of finish to produce the final playing surface.
The Ohio Floor Company is proud to have the opportunity to supply Ohio Wesleyan University, and their athletes, one of the best wood surfaces in not only their conference, but in comparison to any permanent sports floor system in the country.