Studio taps ‘The Floor’ for dance use

BANGOR – Bill Cohen and Jock McKernan know “The Floor” well. Jon MacDonald and Rachel Bouchard and Liz Coffin dribbled across it to high scores and wins, and of course Cindy Blodgett cruised in a class by herself on it.

Now the hardwood floor that resided in the Bangor Auditorium from 1955 to 1997 is getting a new life at the Thomas School of Dance.

Since its removal from the auditorium, the historic basketball floor that was the stage for so many high school, college and professional basketball games has been taking up space at the Bangor Armory.

“We’re moving just about all of it,” said Don Dickel, the owner of Don Dickel Hardwood Floors of Bangor. “The old floor just sat around doing nothing. It had outlived its usefulness. I knew the floor was in the armory and it was on the way to the dump.”

That’s when Dickel, who is a third-generation floor expert, came up with the idea to kill two problems with one floor.

“Tap dancers do quite a job on floors and Don Dickel had already refinished them a couple of times,” said Jane Bragg, owner and director of the Thomas School of Dance. “So we were trying to figure out what options I had. All of a sudden he said, ‘Hey, you know the old basketball floor is down at the armory.’ And I thought wouldn’t that be a wonderful way to recycle and maintain a historical connection.”

So this week, the floor is being installed in three dance floors at the school.

“The floor was the original floor that went into the auditorium in 1954 and 1955 and taken out in late 1997,” said Bass Park’s director, Mike Dyer. “At that time, we went on a rather extensive campaign to offer 4-by-8 foot sections of the floor and souvenir pieces for sale, but the vast majority of the floor wasn’t of practical use. We thought that [moving it to the dance studio] would be an awesome way for the floor to be used.”

The midcourt section of the floor is hanging in the food court area of the auditorium, and some of the 4-by-8 foot sections have been sold to individuals. Small sections of the floor, 6 to 8 inches in length, with plaque and certificate of authenticity, have been sold for $9.95 each since the original floor was removed.

The installation of the floor at the Thomas School of Dance will give tap dancers a perfect place to practice.

“In the tap room, we’re going to keep the basketball markings,” said Bragg, who took over the business from original owner Polly Thomas in 1983. “We’re adding cushioning in the ballet room to give more “give” for the ballet dancers. The ballet floor room will have a Marley [rubberized] floor on top of the wood. I’m a big fan of recycling, so I’m really delighted that we can reuse.”

The 175-pound floor panels were transported to the school last week by Roof Systems of Maine. Dickel will spend about a week installing them. Each of the panels is numbered, so matching them up should be an easy part of the process.

Dyer said the Parks and Recreation Department kept the cost of the panels low, adding that he hopes Bragg will take the entire floor. Bragg said the project is an important investment for her.

“It is going to cost a lot because I’ve still got to pay for the crane and the installation,” she said. “It’s still a major project for me. This will give us a good hardwood floor for the tap dance students to practice on where their sounds will best be heard, and give the ballet students a sprung floor. This floor should last a good many years.”

The school has 70 to 75 tap students each week, “from about age 6 to 60,” some 250 students altogether. In addition to ballet and tap, the school offers jazz, Irish musical theater, ballroom, swing and hip-hop. Bragg also rents space for classes in Middle Eastern dancing, tai chi, West Coast swing and tango.

This year, the school is celebrating its 75th anniversary in operation. Dickel said with the new floor, they should be in business for decades to come.

“It was kind of like a match made in heaven,” he said. “I think it will make a good home and it will be there another 50 years.”

There are still plenty of the small souvenir pieces left with certificates of authenticity for anyone interested in owning a piece of “The Floor.”

Dyer said that every year at tournament time, people ask about purchasing pieces of the floor as keepsakes. The first souvenir piece was given to Cohen, former U.S. secretary of defense and senator for Maine, who played basketball at the Bangor Auditorium in his youth.

The cost of the individually numbered pieces is still $9.95, and they are available at the auditorium box office.

“It’s good to have it finally put to some use,” Dyer said. “We’re pleased that it gets a second chance at life.”