HUTCHINSON, Kan. — No project as big as a school bond issue or a major project like the sports arena ever goes without some setbacks. And that was the case on Thursday as the Arena building committee had to deal with issues involving the arena floor.

Those red tiles that have been a part of the floor for more than 30 years are coming up. But that revealed several major problems, including uneven concrete. The variance in the concrete means the floor cannot be sanded down and refinished as planned. The only viable alternative is to lay a new urethane floor over the concrete. The low bid for the floor is more than $217 thousand. It’s not a short process either as the floor project will need to begin in the next month to have it finished before the national tournament.

One other issue arose once the new basketball goals were erected in the practice gym. It was discovered that the auxiliary goals on the side of the floor stuck out almost four feet onto the playing surface, causing obstructions for when the basketball teams are running the full length of the floor. How they will deal with that issue remains to be seen, but the engineers hope to have a solution by the next meeting.

The project itself is running on schedule with the exception of the parking lots due to the persistent rain that has fallen over the past two months. The north side gyms will get new floors next week and the home locker rooms are finished. The main gym is moving along with some seating yet to be installed, along with the sound system and video boards.