Steel Reaches New Heights in Arkansas

Black Springs, AR is known for its mountains, valleys, dense woodland, fertile plains, and clear lakes and streams. So how does an arch style building measuring 60 x 24 x 170 fit into the landscape? According to Morry Sanders, it fits in perfectly.

Sanders is the owner of the Arkansas Vault Club, and indoor training facility for pole vaulters of all ages. The arched steel quonset building houses two pole vault pits with runways and equipment, two restrooms with showers, several weight training apparatuses, and vaulting poles. “Everyone is in awe when the walk through the door,” says Sanders.  “Arch style quonset athletic buildings are very unusual in Arkansas, so most people ask a lot of questions about it.”

Sanders created Arkansas Vault Club in 1999 to provide young athletes with sound technical instruction in the pole vault.  “It’s grown quite a bit since then,” says Sanders. “We’ve developed 68 State Champions indoors and outdoors since our club’s inception.”

After using an outdoor facility for seven years, Sanders decided it was time to move the vaulting indoors. “I needed a big building that would lend enough space for us to train and compete.  I also wanted to make sure that vaulters of any caliber, including Olympians, could vault here without any limitations.”

After researching many companies that sell the type of building he was looking for, he chose one in Virginia Beach, Va. “SteelMaster was the last company that I called because I really thought they were the most reputable company out there and were probably the most expensive,” says Saunders. “The SteelMaster sales rep was the only rep that I spoke to that didn’t come across as a “car salesman”.  I told him exactly what I needed and he made sure that his company gave it to me at a good price. I placed the order in October and they delivered in November.  Even the delivery guy had a great personality and offered helpful suggestions.”

It took Sanders and his family along with athletes and their families three months to construct the Quonset building, working on it when they could since they all have full-time jobs. “I was the only one who read the construction manual cover to cover numerous times,” says Sanders. “None of us really new what to expect, but after the first arch was erected, nerves calmed down and we got past the learning curve.  It really wasn’t very difficult to construct.  Our quonset building is very tall so it probably took a little longer than most buildings.  The technical support that I received from SteelMaster got us through any trouble-shooting we needed.  The fact is that there are over 30,000 bolts in my building, and each one needed to go in one-at-a-time.  We all became more efficient each day, and it came together just like the folks at SteelMaster said it would.”