Reeds Road Students Get Gimpse of New Gym

It was a project 23 years in the making.

The Galloway Township School District introduced the new gym at on Thursday. The gym replaces the multi-purpose room the school had been using for years. The room housed both the gym and the cafeteria, making the scheduling for the room difficult.

It's a problem the district has wanted to deal with for a long time, but other pressing concerns continued to take precedent.

But when Galloway Township School District Business Administrator Vickie Tomasco realized there was $1.2 million in the district's Capital Projects Account, she saw the possibility to finally move forward on the project that had taken a back seat for so long.

The money was the result of at least eight years of savings, under Tomasco's supervision.

The rest of the project was paid for by a Regular Operating Districts Grant worth $807,000.

"This came at no cost to the taxpayers and didn't borrow any money," Galloway Township Board of Education President Ernest Huggard said. "The children got something they deserve at no cost to the taxpayer. It's a win-win."

First-grader Payton Muzyka and sixth-grader Nicole Gruber , which was broadcast to classrooms throughout the school.

All students in the 700-plus student, K-6 school were then given a chance to tour the gym.

The gym will be open to students—and members of the community—beginning in September.

There will be an entrance in the rear of the building for residents to enter and go directly into the gym without needing to set foot in the rest of the school.

"This is representative of what this organization was created to do," said Marc Larkins, CEO of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, who was in attendance with the organization's Chief of Staff Jason Ballard. "Any time you can get multiple parties to work together and come in under budget and on time, it's a tremendous accomplishment."

"This was a team effort," Superintendent Annette Giaquinto said. "It's a moment of pride and excitement."

Former Superintendent Dougas Goff also was on hand.

Goff was the superintendent of the Galloway School District for more than 10 years. This was a project that was spoken about throughout his tenure, and he was able to get the project in motion in his final year in the position.

"I have to give credit to Vickie Tomasco for being a good saver and knowing that this was a project that was important to the entire community."

"We've been waiting a long time for this," Reeds Road School Principal William Zipparo said. "We've been waiting 23 years."