DHS AD: Locker Rooms in Dire Need of Overhaul

The dark, cramped and isolated locker rooms that Marauder athletes and physical education students walk through daily just doesn't mesh with the new athletic facility the school will have outside later this year, the school's athletic director said.

The three locker rooms at have never received a facelift - let alone what school officials are asking for: a complete overhaul expected to cost $250,000. 

"Our coaches can take advantage of it, and it allows us the space and facilities to help our kids learn about teammwork," said athletic director Michael Plansky. "We are lacking that right now."

Built for a school that once housed double the number of pupils, literally hundreds of damaged and dented lockers remain dusty and unused year after year.

"Right now we have too many lockers, and we’re not utilizing the space," he said.

Plansky is ready to demolish and renovate the locker rooms into comfortable, homey spaces where team bonds can form and winning game plans can sprout. 

"The biggest concern is not having a place to meet," he said on a walkthrough last week.

While the two boys locker rooms have showers - largely unused - that flow one drip at a time, it's the stall-filled girls locker room that's a top priority and needs the most work, he said.

"There is not a place where two people can sit next to each other," he said. "There's no place to go."

Green bathroom-like stalls line the middle of the girls locker room. In each stall, a wooden bench, half-size locker and often a girl's seclusion from the rest of her teammates.

If the Capital Expenditures Committee recommends, and Town Meeting approves less than a quarter-million, then the school will focus on the girls locker room first.

Planksy and other school officials will appear in front of the Capital Expenditures Committee Monday evening.

If the full funding comes through, Plansky said the plans focus on separating the locker rooms into team areas with places for a full team to meet and white boards - a combination that doesn't currently exist.

"We want the kids to take ownership of it. You would have a place to meet," he said.

In the boys varsity locker room, plans call to ax dozens of lockers, take down the metal cages that block off locker areas and drastically increasing the lighting.

"We need a place where the soccer team can go. We need a place where the cross country team can go – and then it switches each season," he said. "We want to create spaces where players want to go."

Once Dedham takes to a showcase turf field outside, Plansky wants the first impression for visiting teams - the locker rooms - to wow them.

"We want to have our locker room facility be at the same level that our fields are because we are going to be hosting a lot of different things coming through here," he said. "You’re evaluated by what you see. This is the first impression they get."