Cherry Gulch
Challenge – Inclement weather conditions
Solution – Hercules Truss Arch Building
Size – 65′ wide x 100′ long
Application – Indoor gymnasium
Tucked amongst the shadows of the Rocky Mountains, Cherry Gulch is a boarding school for boys, providing various therapeutic intervention and prevention programs. Situated on 220 acres of ranch land northwest of Boise, the staff at Cherry Gulch was looking to expand its recreational activity programs. Outdoor facilities are ideal for various games and team building activities, but they also wanted to provide the students with year-round recreation in an indoor gymnasium.
“We’ve been utilizing an outdoor basketball court for all of our programs,” explained Program Manager Kahn Borge, L.M.S.W. “We wanted to give our students the opportunity to play sports and enjoy other activities with an indoor facility during inclement weather.” After exploring different building solutions on the Internet, Cherry Gulch ultimately selected ClearSpan Fabric Structures due to its affordability and durability. “We selected ClearSpan because of the combination of low cost and quality,” Borge added.
The 65′ wide by 100′ long Hercules Truss Arch Building was installed using ClearSpan’s in-house anchoring system. The 10’ long Helical Anchor foundation allows for minimal excavation and rapid installation of the structure. What’s more, the spacious interior has allowed the faculty at Cherry Gulch to use the indoor gymnasium in more ways than initially planned. “The building has been great and the students love it,” explained Borge. “We’ve also found that aside from recreational activities, we are also using the building for large training sessions.” In addition, Cherry Gulch also chose blue and orange for their gymnasium floor to emulate the colors of the Boise State University Broncos, which is known for its blue turf football field at Bronco Stadium.
For extreme weather conditions, Cherry Gulch also had ClearSpan outfit the building with doors and fans, to assist with ventilation in the summer months, and propane tube heaters to keep the gymnasium at comfortable temperatures during the winter. In addition to these supplemental building accessories, it’s the intangibles that have impressed the faculty the most. “Not only is the building very strong,” said Borge, “but it’s attractive both inside and out. The ClearSpan building has been a great addition to our facility.”
For more information on Cherry Gulch and their ClearSpan building, visit www.cherrygulch.org.
