A new gymnasium and classroom addition is being praised - and commemorated - at Etowah High School.

The school recently opened the 73,000-square-foot facility, which will give the school more space and updated facilities.

In addition to the gym, the project added 12 instructional units, a weight room, a wrestling area, physical education locker rooms, team locker rooms, office space for school coaches and a horticulture lab for agriculture and veterinary science classes and family and consumer science classes and labs.

Etowah's cafeteria was also renovated, with adjacent classroom walls removed to add more space. A greenhouse and a storage building were added to the campus as well.

The $11.8 million addition was built by Doster Construction Company using SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) revenues.

Principal Ron Dunnavant said the gym is now big enough to comfortably accommodate the entire student body during a pep rally.

He said students, faculty and staff are in love with the addition.

"It was really fun to watch them come into the facility and watch their response," he said of when students saw the addition for the first time. "They were like kids at Christmas."

Faculty members are also thankful for the facility, Dunnavant said. The addition and renovation has given physical education teachers more space in the gym for classes and more up-to-date equipment.

The new fitness room has 24 stationary bicycles, two universal weight machines, three treadmills and between 25 and 30 step aerobic stations.

"It's allowed us to spread out and do much more," Dunnavant added.

To celebrate the opening, the school will conduct a "Tip-Off at Eagle Mountain" basketball celebration on Saturday.

The event begins at 10 a.m. with E.T. Booth Middle School's girls' basketball team playing an intersquad scrimmage game. Booth's boys' basketball team will follow at 11:30 a.m.

At 1 p.m., a women's alumni game will take place, and at 2 p.m. a men's alumni game will follow.

At 4 p.m., Etowah's Lady Eagles will scrimmage against Gilmer County High School, and at 5:30 p.m. the varsity Eagles will play Rome High School in a scrimmage match-up.

Tickets for each game are $5 for adults and $3 for students. JD's Bar-B-Que will sell barbeque pulled pork and chicken plates for $7 each. Proceeds will benefit Etowah's Athletic Department.

Bob Westbrook, varsity Lady Eagles' head coach, said between 30 and 40 Etowah graduates will participate in the alumni games.

The gym's opening, he said, is a "great time to bring back some of the players" to celebrate Etowah's rich basketball tradition.

Etowah's boys varsity basketball coach Don Hurlburt agreed, adding he thinks the game will score with the crowd.

"It should be a big deal," he said. "We are excited about it."