Thanks to private donations, Niles High School’s main gymnasium floor has a new look.

The project began with graduating senior Taylor Campbell designing the new look as part of a project for his graphic arts class.

After several weeks of work, the new floor is ready for competition when athletes return for the 2012-13 school year in August.

Allied Solutions was the primary sponsor for the resurfacing of the floor. Supporting funding came from Honor Credit Union, United Federal Credit Union, Greater Niles Community Credit Union and Selge Construction Co.

According to Niles athletic director Jeff Upton, the floor had been resurfaced in the 1990s. But once the project got started and the layers were stripped away, it was discovered that the last full resurfacing apparently was done in the 1970s.

“When we sanded it down we realized that everything that was gold was painted blue and everything that was blue was painted gold in the ‘90s,” Upton said. “According to the company, the floor had been sanded down once since the school was built in the ‘50s and that was more than likely in the early ‘70s.”

According to Upton, there is a limit to the number of times you can sand the wood down. Since this is only the second time it has been sanded, “we have plenty of times left,” he said.

The reason the project came about is that the floor, with its gold hue, had dead spots and warped spots.

“We decided we would look at it,” Upton said of the resurfacing. “What happened was Taylor Campbell redesigned it as part of his graphic arts class last year. So he came up with the total design. And then several of us got together and decided to try and make it happen.

“We secured and went after the bids and then the only way to fund it was to privately fund it. We are grateful that our sponsors came up and funded the floor. Allied Sollutions really went out and solicited with me to complete the project.”

From start to finish, the project took three weeks to complete.