VIENNA TWP., Ohio - The Mathews Local School District hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday to celebrate the completion of a new elementary school gymnasium.

The district spent $2.2 million on the project. According to school officials, the gymnasium was paid for using existing resources. These included unused money from previous construction, interest earnings, and funds from the sale of district property.

Outside of gymnasium use for elementary students, Mathews Local Schools Superintendent Russell McQuaid says that the new facility will grant the district opportunities to host the community.

"It also gives us a place for public events, it gives us a place for our high school students to be able to practice," McQuaid said. "We're going to use this as a practice gym so we don't have to go rent space at other facilities."

Before the new gymnasium was built, the students at Mathews were using a "multipurpose room" as both a gym and a cafeteria, which McQuaid says "makes for a bad gym and a bad cafeteria."

McQuaid stated in a previous release that the district did not ask voters for a new tax levy to fund the building.

Architectural Vision Group Ltd. designed the facility, and C. Tucker Cope and Associates handled the construction. 

During the event, officials also announced details regarding a new playground for the elementary school, which is expected to be built this spring.