BRILLIANT — Efforts to establish a space where residents can exercise or gather for private parties have received a boost from the Charles M. and Thelma M. Pugliese Foundation.

Tom Timmons, president of the charitable foundation, stopped by the former Buckeye North Elementary School Tuesday to see the former gymnasium the Wells Township Trustees plan to renovate with $20,000 from the charity.

Township Trustee Ben Batenburg said the trustees have allocated remaining funds for the $33,360 project, exceeding the 10 percent match required of the grant.

He said crews with Global Epoxy Plus of Portsmouth will replace the gym’s tile floor with a durable, polymer-epoxy surface in November and are expected to finish the job by mid-December.

Batenburg said township crews will be repainting the walls and using a 19-foot lift to replace the current lights with LED bulbs.

He said they also will stripe the completed floor for basketball, volleyball and pickleball games.

Batenburg said the work is in keeping with plans to make the gym available for exercise on a daily basis for residents of all ages.

He said the trustees are interested in renting the space for small wedding receptions, graduation parties and other private events.

The space currently is used for meetings of the trustees, who plan to move their offices there also.

The trustees acquired the building and the adjacent former Brilliant High School football field through an agreement with the Buckeye Local school board that involved the township refurbishing a school bus garage at the site, building a new storage shed and removing the field’s grandstands.

The work totaled about $20,000.

Last year, the township’s police department moved into the building and constructed a garage for its cruisers and other equipment using a $159,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Batenburg said the former school, which opened in 1969, is in good condition, and the trustees are happy to be able to use it.

Chrissy Crawford, the township’s parks and recreation director, noted the football field will serve as the site for a new fall festival to be held Sept. 20 and 21.

The two-day event will include food and other vendors, music, a car show and other activities.