Construction issues delay Westover gym opening

ALBANY — Westover’s new gymnasium won’t be ready for the start of basketball season, but the delay comes with a consolation prize for the Patriots.

They aren’t quite finished with Boston Garden yet.

Plumbing and equipment issues, plus equipment that didn’t arrive on schedule, have pushed completion of Westover’s new gym to Dec. 10, principal William Chunn said. The school now plans to begin playing games in the facility after the Christmas break in January 2027.

The new timeline means Westover will spend the opening portion of the basketball season in its longtime home before moving into the new facility.

For Chunn, that’s not entirely bad news.

“I am disappointed that we did not reach our initial opening, which was scheduled for the end of November, but I am not upset, as this gives us additional games in the Boston Garden,” Chunn said. “And I do love The Boston Garden, where we’ve played for 10 state championships, winning six.”

Those extra games will provide something of an unexpected encore for a building woven into the history of Westover basketball.

The Patriots had expected to move into their new home earlier in the season. Instead, even if construction is completed by the revised Dec. 10 date, Chunn said Westover will wait until after Christmas before playing games there.

That is by design.

“We plan to have home games in the new gym after the Christmas holidays, in January 2027,” Chunn said. “This will give our teams time to get acclimated to our new playing facility.”

Rather than moving immediately from Boston Garden into the new building, Westover’s teams will have several weeks to practice there and become familiar with their surroundings.

“It is important to us that we have adequate practice time in this facility before we start playing home games, as we are sure there will be kinks to work out,” Chunn said.

Before the first basketball game is played, Westover also intends to allow its community to see the finished facility.

Chunn said the school plans a ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by an open house for the “Patriot Nation” before opening the gym to the public.

The new gym is being constructed on the site of Westover’s former baseball field as part of the extensive renovation of the school campus. Plans for the approximately 2,000-seat facility include locker rooms, coaches’ offices, weight and training rooms, concessions, and other amenities.

The project represents a major upgrade for Westover’s athletic program and will eventually replace a gym that has witnessed some of the school’s greatest basketball accomplishments.

That makes the delay unusual.

Normally, waiting another month for a new gym would be nothing but frustrating. At Westover, it also means another month inside Boston Garden.

The new building can wait until January.

For a few more games, the Patriots get to stay home.