Official: CSI Gym to Re-Open
Water-damaged court is deemed safe, although it will be replaced at a later date 

Staten Island Advance - Friday, October 12, 2007

Long-time basketball coaches Tony Petosa and Marguerite Gualtieri are among those breathing easier with the College of Staten Island's decision to re-open the school's water-damaged main gymnasium floor.

A CSI official confirmed yesterday that the green light has been given for full use of the Sports and Recreation Center's oft-troubled basketball court in Willowbrook.

"I'm extremely relieved," said Petosa, who begins his 18th season at the helm of the men's team with the first official workout scheduled Monday. "My kids are very happy. That's all they've been talking about."

While the court eventually will need to be replaced for the second time since 2002 -- at a cost estimated at more than $1 million -- it has been determined that the major facelift can wait until sometime following the end of the NCAA Division III basketball season.

The main gymnasium had been closed to the public since Aug. 1 while investigators probed the cause and extent of water damage underneath the court of the 12-year-old-facility.

"All tests have come back negative. There is no contamination ... no health hazards whatsoever," said Robert Huber, a CSI spokesman, referring to air and water tests conducted by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. "The threat that we might lose use of the facility for the basketball season has been taken off the table."

Huber said that the CUNY Athletic Conference also recently gave clearance for the gymnasium's use this winter. Zak Ivkovic, the CUNYAC's executive director, joined Tim McAller, coordinator of Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) basketball officials, for a recent on-site inspection.

Huber said that no timetable has been given for replacing the court and that the college "will address that at a later date." He said the source of the water damage under the main court still remains under investigation by Superstructures Engineers and Architects, a firm contracted to examine the problem.

"They will continue to investigate the source of the water," said Huber.

The re-opening of the main arena has far-ranging implications at what is considered one of the busiest buildings on the sprawling 204-acre campus with 12,500 students. The Sports and Recreation Center has been the venue for numerous public events, including the annual Thanksgiving Eve high school boys' basketball game between Curtis and St. Peter's.

CSI has also played host to the boys' Staten Island High School Basketball Tournament in past years.

"We're really relieved," said CSI athletic director Jason Fein, who was facing the daunting challenge of finding alternate practice and game sites if the court had been deemed unplayable. "They want us to keep monitoring it (the court), of course, but in the meantime it's nice to know we can use it."

The gymnasium floor was ripped up and replaced in the summer of 2002 because of water damage traced to faulty pipes underneath the adjacent men's locker room. It is believed that the current problems are unrelated to that project.

CSI students and staff were informed last month via a campus-wide e-mail that "floor buckling" related to water damage "found under the floor" was first reported in April.

The main gymnasium was shut down after tests in July "showed a trace of bacterium associated with fecal matter." Air and water quality tests subsequently proved normal, but the college waited until a recent report by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York to clear the way for re-opening the gymnasium.

Repairs to several small areas affected by floor "buckling" have already been repaired, said school sources.

By Jim Waggoner
Reprinted here with permission from the