By Todd Griffin

Renovation Project Breathing New Life Into Fredonia Gym

Posted: April 3, 2022
Article, Featured

When you first open the door to the Fredonia gym, you’re greeted by the old scoreboard that used to hang in the corner inside the gymnasium.

It’s been refurbished and is all lit up.

The score reads 54-47 and the time is set to 19:54.

That’s in honor of Fredonia High School’s only 2nd Region title — a 54-47 victory over Charleston in the championship game in 1954.

Visitors to the Fredonia gym are welcomed by the old scoreboard in the entranceway.

Fredonia played its final basketball game in 1972 before the high school was absorbed by Caldwell County. But the gym remains a central part of the community in Fredonia.

The gym and former school building is now owned by Fredonia First Baptist Church, which is engaged in an ongoing renovation of both the gym and the school.

The stage, at one time boarded over, has been reopened and can now be used for concerts and other events.

Church pastor Presley Lamm and Fredonia grad Roy Gene Rogers appeared on The Sideline Report with Todd Griffin on WPKY Radio Thursday morning to discuss the gym’s past along with future plans for the facility.

Lamm said it’s important to preserve history…

Lamm said that God had a plan for the restoration effort, noting that the gym has already been utilized for a pair of important fund-raising concerts…

The Fredonia gym has recently hosted concerts and youth basketball games, among other events.

Lamm said the gym is now being called “The Hive,” which is an homage to the Fredonia High School mascot, the Yellow Jacket. He discussed some of the work already done inside the gym…

One centerpiece that is still missing is the 1954 2nd Region championship trophy itself.
It is believed that the trophy at one time resided in a case in the entryway at the Fredonia gym and was later displayed at Butler Gym in Princeton.

The church would love to have the original trophy, but would settle for a replica.

However, photos of the trophy are rare, especially color photos. But Rogers said that Earl Fraliex, like himself a Fredonia grad and former Yellow Jacket basketball player, thinks he has a color photo from when the trophy was displayed in Princeton.

Lamm and Rogers talked about the hunt for the regional championship trophy…