POCONO TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- An empty elementary school in the Poconos has been transformed into an indoor training facility for students within the Pocono Mountain School District.
The former Pocono Elementary Center near Tannersville is now a place where baseball and softball players can practice indoors during the winter months.
The building had been empty for six years, but now it's a place where student-athletes from Pocono Mountain East and West can train -- the new Coordinated Health Sports Performance Center.
"It's honestly amazing. Before all this was done, we were just using batting cages and turf and it looked absolutely nothing like this. I didn't expect it to look like this when I came in here. It looks phenomenal," said Pocono Mountain East baseball player James Balogh.
Thanks to a partnership with Coordinated Health, the Pocono Mountain School District was able to transform the gym inside the former elementary center into an indoor baseball and softball training facility.
"I don't think anyone else has something like this and our spring sports deserve it. Mother Nature dumps a lot of snow up here and our kids can't get on a field or swing a bat sometimes until March or April, and that hurts us, so this gives us that opportunity," district official Robert Melosky said.
The new facility also includes a weight training area for all students in the district to use to improve strength and conditioning.
"It's really important because now we can get indoors and actually hit, pitch, and do stuff on the turf," said softball player Katelynn Truman.
School district officials say the facility was made possible through donations and corporate sponsorships.