Central Collegiate sports teams will have a new home court to defend next year.

With the 2018-19 school year coming to a close this week, the local high school has torn up its gym floor and will be installing some new hardwood over the next month.

"It's been two years in the making, we raised the money for a year and then it's taken a year to get everything in place and things have been rolling," said Lonny Holmes, Central’s vice-principal.

Fundraising efforts started in early 2018 and the floor was being torn up over the last few weeks the school year this month.

The project will see a big change to the gym as a whole, as the stands will be moved from the west wall to the east wall, meaning the court and the baskets had to be shifted over.

"The bleachers moving will just create less traffic across the floor," said Holmes.

"The first thing they did was come in and move the hoops because they reference those with the rest of the floor. It will be a big change for Central Collegiate."

Peacock, Riverview and Vanier have all updated their floors in recent years and Holmes said Central’s will have a similar style.

"The architects gave us some sketch ups of what it's going to look like, it's not 100-percent set in stone but for the most part, it will be an update for us to go from a faded yellow colour to something similar to what Peacock, Vanier and Riverview have done," said Holmes.

The old hardwood was given a good send-off with Central's senior boys' basketball team putting together a great run. 

Holmes said the student body is excited about the changes to the gym, "The kids that are coming back are excited to be a part of some new traditions around Central," he said.

The school has kept pieces of the old floor and have given it out to coaches who have been a part of the program.

"There's a lot of history in there and there's sweat for a lot of people tied up in that floor," said Holmes.

"We're beyond excited about what's going on right now."

The new hardwood is expected to be completed by the end of July and be ready for use during the 2019-20 high school sports season.