Kansas City High School Builds Insane $4.6M Weight Room

The college football arms race has created some incredible weight room set ups at major universities.

The Oregon Ducks, for example, unveiled a massive new facility just a few years ago. Alabama's 37,000 square foot weight room is equally impressive.

But it's apparently not just college athletes benefitting from huge, luxurious surroundings.

According to a new report, on Friday, Shawnee Mission North high school opened a brand new facility with 16 half-racks, a fitness center, turf ramp and 30-yard turf setup.

The upgrade was financed by a $4.6 bond authorized by the school district and the school principal said he thinks it will enhance community "pride:"

“We’re celebrating our 100th anniversary this year, we’ve had a transition in our mascot, and so we hope that this just generates more pride in our community,” principal David Ewers said. “Right away, we’ve had alums come by and want to visit and see the facility and they’re just in awe. We’ve had community members come in. So we just hope that it’s just one more thing that our community can have an intense amount of pride in.”

What's most surprising about this new weight room isn't just the seemingly exorbitant cost for a high school gym, but that the football team's record doesn't really justify the significant investment.

The Shawnee Mission North Bison have won just 2 games in the past three seasons combined.

They went 1-8 in 2021, including one 55-0 blowout loss. That came after a 1-5 2020 season with 49-0 and 50-0 losses. Somehow they were even worse in 2019, finishing 0-9.

It appears that success in high school sports is not a prerequisite for having a huge new multi-million dollar weight room.