The new Lowell High School gymnasium is already generating functionality issues, barely two years after it’s opening in 2022.

The most recent School Building Committee meeting on December 19 included discussion of bleachers causing damage to the court when rolled in and out for use. Other sections of the bleachers have also drawn attention in the past for not being usable due to blocking parts of the facility when in use.

However, the latest issues appear serious enough to have drawn the attention of City Councilors Wayne Jenness and Erik Gitschier, among others, leading to the following motion on next Tuesday night’s Council agenda:

A source familiar with ongoing problems tells InsideLowell about unusable locker rooms, water and ceiling issues, and even a malfunctioning bathroom door lock that required the Lowell Fire Department to help get the student out.

When asked to describe the extent of the issues, the clearly frustrated source says “I would say it’s falling apart, but that would imply it was properly put together in the first place.”

Given the backdrop of the contentious high school location debate in 2017, along with the fact the December 19 SBC meeting also included discussion about how quickly the contingency funds are being gobbled up to deal with “unforeseen” issues in the “rehab” phases of the project, and you can bet old battle lines are sure to be dug up.

From this vantage point, the location is what the location is. There’s no point in going back.

The focus needs to be on why a nearly $400-million project can’t even get you a gym bereft of the embarrassing issues that plagued the former Fieldhouse.

For that, the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the project managers and construction company have some ‘splainin’ to do to the people of Lowell, the taxpayers throughout the state funding the project, and most importantly, to the high school students of Lowell who haven’t benefited from a state of the art construction project since 1922.