Palo Alto High School

Palo Alto High School's 86-Year-Old ‘Big Gym' Demolished to Pave Way for New Facility

Palo Alto High School’s 86-year-old 'Big Gym'  where NBA star Jeremy Lin and former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh once ran and jumped was demolished on Wednesday, paving the way for a state-of-the-art sports complex.

Crews showed up before sunrise and began knocking down wall, crunching wood and steel beams about 7 a.m.

Jason Peery's family has donated $24 million to help build the new $34 million gymnasium.

"Our family has been in the community for four generations," Peery said. "We love this place. We love sports. We love this school."

Palo Alto Police Lt. Zach Perron attended Paly in the 1990s and remembers when the basketball team made the state championships. "It was a rocking, great placed to watch basketball. It was packed and loud." The demolition of the building is a bittersweet one, Perron said, even though a new gym will rise in its place.

The new gym will be U-shaped, featuring two connected multi-level gyms, a “Hall of Fame” corridor, several locker rooms, a concession stand, an athletic store, a dance and yoga room, a ticket booth and a wrestling room, the Paly Voice reported.

For history buffs, pieces of the gym floor will be sold at a fundraiser hosted by the Paly Sports Boosters. The school hosted a community-wide "Farewell Paly Gym" party in 2014, knowing that their beloved workout facility would be torn down.

The proposed complex is scheduled to finish by Fall 2017.
 

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