Dublin Jerome High School athletes are six weeks into training inside a substantially expanded weight room, one that more than doubled the number of lifting stations from 14 to 26 and added an auxiliary training space designed to let multiple teams work out at the same time. The renovation, part of a broader push by Dublin City Schools to upgrade athletic facilities, wrapped up construction around July 1 after beginning shortly after spring break.
According to NBC4 WCMH-TV, the project added 26 inlaid lifting platforms, up from 14 in the previous configuration, along with upgraded audiovisual equipment that includes five monitors displaying workouts and other training information. Jay Schwanke said the new setup gives the full-time strength and conditioning coach more flexibility in scheduling workouts and allows more than one team to train simultaneously, something the old layout could not accommodate. The renovation also extended into the corridor and landing area outside the main training room, and Dublin City Schools handled the room's construction after hiring an architect and general contractor to select equipment and finishes.
A Weight Room Original to the School's 2004 Opening
The previous weight room was largely original to the school, which opened during the 2004–2005 school year as Dublin's third high school and its first located in Union County, according to Wikipedia. That timeline means the equipment being replaced had gone roughly two decades without a comprehensive overhaul before this year's renovation. Construction work included new flooring, walls, ventilation, and audiovisual systems, along with branding elements throughout the space.
The ventilation improvements in particular help when large groups of athletes train simultaneously, a scenario the new layout is designed to support. Jerome's athletic programs use the weight room before school, during the school day, and after classes into the evening, and contractors continue addressing minor finishing items even as athletes have already returned to the space. Jay Schwanke said the renovated room is inviting and has enhanced athletes' experience, adding that the athletic department tries to put students in the best position to succeed.
Community Fundraising and a Longtime Equipment Partner
The Jerome community fundraised to help pay for the new equipment, supplementing the district-funded construction work. Equipment manufacturer Stray Dog Strength, which according to the company's own YouTube video has supplied Dublin Jerome for more than 15 years, provided custom equipment for the 2026 renovation, including functional trainers and dedicated glute units installed in the new auxiliary training room alongside the expanded main weight room.
Part of a Districtwide Summer Facilities Push
The weight room upgrade was one piece of a larger round of maintenance and improvements across 18 Dublin City Schools buildings completed in August ahead of the new school year, which also included a new hitting facility and stadium scoreboard updates at Jerome, as reported by the Dublin Ledger. Separately, the Dublin Planning & Zoning Commission approved an amended development plan in April allowing Jerome to replace its stadium scoreboard with a modernized video display board and expanded sponsor panels, part of a wider capital investment pattern across the school's athletic grounds.
Dublin City Schools is pursuing this broader effort to update athletic facilities against a backdrop of rapid enrollment growth. The district reached 17,049 students for the 2026–2027 school year, the same Dublin Ledger report notes, keeping its status as Ohio's ninth-largest district even as statewide public school enrollment dropped nearly 1%. That growth helps explain why Jerome needed more lifting stations and more scheduling flexibility for its coaches in the first place.
Leadership Transition and Long-Term Capacity Planning
The renovation's completion coincided with a leadership change at the top of the district. Dr. Jennifer Schwanke was appointed superintendent of Dublin City Schools, taking office on August 1 after Dr. John Marschhausen's five-year tenure overseeing major facility updates and attendance boundary planning, as Hoodline previously reported. The district is also preparing new attendance boundaries for the 2027–2028 school year meant to balance enrollment across Jerome, Dublin Coffman, and Dublin Scioto high schools at roughly 2,000 students per building, according to Dublin City Schools.
That redistricting effort sits alongside other capacity strategies playing out across the district's high schools. Dublin City Schools broke ground in May 2025 on a 60,000-square-foot expansion at Dublin Scioto High School designed to accommodate 500 to 600 additional students, a project Hoodline covered after the district abandoned a planned purchase of the Cardinal Health building. The City of Dublin has also committed $3.8 million toward redeveloping the nearby SportsOhio complex, a municipal effort intended to relieve capacity pressure on local school and community athletic facilities.
Jerome's outdoor stadium, which seats 5,000 spectators and features an Astro-Play synthetic turf surface and six-lane track, matches Dublin Scioto's capacity while remaining smaller than Dublin Coffman's 8,500-seat facility, according to Visit Dublin, Ohio. Taken together, the weight room renovation, the scoreboard replacement, and the districtwide maintenance push reflect Dublin City Schools' stated aim of improving the day-to-day experience for student-athletes as enrollment continues to climb.
