Dozens of construction workers are hustling to install temporary basketball courts at Montana State University and get the main fitness center ready for students’ return in three weeks, all part of a major effort to replace two gyms lost last winter when the roofs collapsed in record snowfall.
MSU’s insurance companies have paid out about $2.5 million for the work so far and the final total is likely to be “considerably more,” Dan Stevenson, associate vice president for university services, said during a tour of the construction area Monday.
Workers have demolished the old gyms, reinforced exposed interior walls of the Marga Hosaeus Fitness Center and laid foundations for two new “bubble” structures.