One distinguishing feature we noted as elementary students in the fall is that the odor down in that subterranean cavity soon became rather obnoxious. The reason, if memory serves correctly, is that the varsity football team (did the "B" also dress there, or did they dress at Central?) hung up their equipment in an adjacent room to dry. Since those pads, pants, and jerseys were not laundered on a regular basis, the odor soon became rather objectionable. Varsity basketball then practiced at Central, so they did not use the pit on a regular basis. However, intramurals had their games there, as did the Junior High and JV teams on occasion. In the spring, the track and field teams dressed there, and worked out if the weather was not conducive to outdoor practice.
Mr. Dolan was out gym teacher in elementary school and up through 8th grade. It seems that at the start of every class, we lined up on the sideline and counted off in fours (1-2-3-4,1-2-3-4, etc.). The ones took one step forward, the twos took two steps forward, etc. We warmed up by doing calisthenics such jumping jacks, regular push-ups, 8-count push-ups, sit-ups, toe touches, and others. The toe touch exercise was done by standing tall with feet shoulder width apart, then bending over and touching your right foot, bounce up a little bit and then touch the floor between your feet, another bounce and then touch your left foot, and then return to a standing posture. Instead of always counting one-two-three-four, he sometimes called out "Let's bounce nice and high."
As Mr. Dolan was the Junior High basketball, coach we did our share of basketball drills. Other sports, though, were not neglected. We wrestled, and played volleyball and softball. One of our favorites was dodgeball. We used volleyballs, not those foam balls that are used today. Some boys could really heave that thing, and it stung when you got hit.
Every once in a while we would line up under the basket and see how many chin-ups or pull-ups we could do. Some of us struggled, but there were some who were strong and specially gifted. The talented ones who stick out in my mind were Arlan Meske and Vern Olson. Whereas most of us strained to do five or even 10, those two could bounce up and down on that chinning bar like pinball going around an arcade game. They were capable of doing as many as 20. Mr. Dolan also mentioned that Steve Odegaard at Hillcrest was also quite proficient in this endeavor.
Another recollection is that pep assemblies were held there at noon. One time Tom Klinkel was giving the pep talk. The basketball team was playing Sioux Falls Washington that night. They had an outstanding player named John Eggers, who later starred at Augustana. I seem to recall Tom referring to him as "Fly-trap" Eggers. I think it was because Mr. Eggers had rather large lips, and his mouth always seemed to be wide open, perhaps gasping for breath.
Many school pictures were also taken there. All of the annuals up through 1967 show numerous clubs and associations having their pictures taken with the pit as the background. Additionally, a few dances were also held there. The pit was even used after we moved to the new high school in 1967. The new cross-country coach was also a teacher at the middle school, so he had us meet there for practice after school.
Why was it called the pit? The logical reason is that you had to go downstairs to get to it. The ceiling of the pit was just a few feet higher than the ground floor.
The pit as we remember it began a transformation in the mid-70's. A three-phase remodeling project was begun to make the old high school more conducive to the needs of middle school students. Do you recall what the old pit looked like? Below is a picture taken during a 7th grade "B" basketball game against Huron sometime in January or February of 1974.
The front entrance to the school would be to the right. Standing up in the left-hand corner is "Lefty" Johnson, middle school principal. The middle gentleman seated in top row (in the dark suit) is Dr. Crosswait, superintendent of the school system. His son is #30 in the top photo, while #14 is the son of Mr. Mohlenhoff, our driver's ed teacher (Mr. Mohlenhoff was the 7th grade "A" coach. They were playing in Central at the same time). The "bench" for the players is the ledge, where those not playing at the moment are resting. As you can see, the wall comes right up next to the court. The "bleachers" were built in. They were concrete with some kind of coating (or was it just paint?) on them. The other side of the pit had the same lay-out. On the other end of the pit were stairs on both sides. If you did not want to jump off the ledge to get down, you could always take the stairs. Also on that end were locker room and storage area.
The out-of-bounds line is only a foot or so from the court. The mats under the basket are there for a reason. Also under the basket you can see the infamous "chinning " bar mentioned above. Not seen is the climbing rope. We often had to tighten that up so it did not interfere with the game.
When the remodeling phase of the pit was finished, about the only thing that remained was the basketball floor. The locker room and equipment room were gutted to make room for separate boys and girls locker rooms. The bleachers on both sides were removed. The pillars had to stay, though. The east side (the side shown in the photos) was made into an office and storage area. A stairwell was added where the one boy is seated on the ledge. A curtain was added so that the pit could be divided up for different activities. One reason it was added was that the east side would contain portable racquetball courts. They could be folded up against the wall when not in use. The curtain would serve as a back wall. Obviously the ball would not bounce off the curtain, but it saved time because the players would not have to be chasing down the ball so often.
On top of the office and storage area was the middle school wrestling room. Because it was a long drop to the floor from the wrestling area, a strong fence enclosed the wrestling room.
The west side was left completely open to allow for more space. Baskets were put up on the pillars on both sides to allow for cross-court games.
Although there has been much remodeling of the old high school into apartments and office space in the last few years, remnants of the pit can be still be seen. If you are in town sometime, you may want to stop in. The building is usually open weekdays from 8-5.
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