The recently replaced gym floor in the Lewis H. Bardo Gymnasium
Penn College Magazine Spring 2026, Volume 35, Number 1
by Matt Blymier
Assistant Director of Athletics/Athletic Communications & Compliance
ONE OF PENN COLLEGE’S OLDEST BUILDINGS received a much-needed renovation when the Lewis H. Bardo Gymnasium was remodeled in the spring and summer of 2025. The 88-year-old gym was dedicated in 1937 as home to the Williamsport High School Millionaires.
The renovation, which began in March and was completed in October, included removing the original gym floor, re-leveling the subfloor, removing the bleachers and painting the original brick walls. The new floor is highlighted by a court-filling Wildcat logo, while the blue and gray bleachers offer a touch of color to accent the newly painted gray walls. The annexes on both ends of the court feature a large mural of the cropped Wildcat logo that matches the design of the exterior mural on the building’s Third Street entrance.
The gym will continue serving the college as the host of its semiannual Career Fairs, the home of its basketball, wrestling and volleyball teams, and an indoor practice space for both the baseball and softball programs.
The Lewis H. Bardo Gymnasium as it looked in 1940. At the time it was the Williamsport High School gymnasium. On the left is a gate to the high school’s football field.
The gymnasium and its surroundings, circa 1970.
The building’s 1936 blueprints, prepared by architect R. Douglass Steele.
In this “before” shot of the Bardo Gym, looking southwest, the women’s volleyball team takes on Penn State Abington. Photo by Cindy Davis Meixel.
On March 19, 2025, the gym’s bleachers are removed, as is about half of its 88-year-old wooden floor. Photo looks west. Photo courtesy of Ben Thomas, director of construction and planning.
Lost and found: Among objects uncovered in the renovation are the very vintage wrappings for gum, candy, matches, aspirin and tobacco. Ben Thomas, the college’s director of construction and planning (who took the photo) explained that the items were found in the ¾-inch gap between the gym’s concrete subfloor and “sleepers” (wooden strips laid over the subfloor). He says the items were left 1935-36, when the original gym floor was installed. Also found: a set of 1935-36 footprints left in the wet concrete.
Floor removal continues. Photo looks east, into the annex at the far end. According to the original blueprints, when built for the Williamsport High School, the gymnasium consisted of the main gym, with annexes on each side that served as the boys gym (on the east end) and the girls gym (on the west end). Photo courtesy of Ben Thomas, director of construction and planning.
Floor removal continues. Photo looks west. Photo courtesy of Ben Thomas, director of construction and planning.
Painting begins. Photo looks west. Photo courtesy of Ben Thomas, director of construction and planning.
Photo looks east. Photo courtesy of Ben Thomas, director of construction and planning.
The subfloor is prepped. Photo courtesy of Ben Thomas, director of construction and planning.
Installation begins. Photo shows the gym’s south wall and west annex. Photo courtesy of Ben Thomas, director of construction and planning.
Photo looks east and south, showing the gym’s south wall and east annex. Photo courtesy of Ben Thomas, director of construction and planning.
The new floor’s installation nears completion. Photo looks south, toward the “visitors side.” Photo courtesy of Ben Thomas, director of construction and planning.
A completed Bardo Gym, looking south from the “home side” bleachers. Photo by Rob Hinkal, social media specialist.
Construction begins on Williamsport High School’s gymnasium through a Works Progress Administration project. The WPA was a President Franklin Roosevelt New Deal program that employed millions of people to complete public works projects during the Great Depression.
The gym is dedicated on Nov. 22. After Williamsport Technical Institute (a predecessor of Pennsylvania College of Technology) opens in 1941, the gym is used by the high school during the day and by WTI students in the evening.
Following the construction of a new high school, the gym (known as Unit 16 by WTI and its successor Williamsport Area Community College) becomes the property of WACC. The gym was renamed the Lewis H. Bardo Gymnasium, in memory of one of WACC’s first deans, who had died of a heart attack in 1967.
The gym is renovated to fix loose bricks on the outer facade and modernized in the interior.
The basketball court is extended to meet NCAA requirements.
The gym floor is repainted with the new athletics logo.
Air conditioning is installed.
Today’s Bardo Gym exterior
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