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The new gym at Flathead High School is getting renamed Friday – for the late Gene Boyle, the longtime coach and athletic director who passed away in 2016.

The public is invited to participate in the renaming of the new auxiliary gym, which is used for sub-varsity sports and physical education.

It has a full Friday itinerary: There’s a freshman girls basketball game between Flathead and Helena Capital at 3 p.m.; the ceremony is set for 6:15 p.m., ahead of the varsity game between Capital and the Bravettes in Flathead’s main gym at 7:15.

Speakers will be Lynnette Johnson, Peter Fusaro and Boyle’s widow, Barb Boyle. There will be a cake social immediately after a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Boyle came to Flathead as its football coach in 1976 and ended his tenure as athletic director in 1998. He continued to coach and administrate at St. Matthew’s Catholic School before retiring in 2009.

“Personally Gene Bolye had an amazing effect on my life as a grade school student, a high school student athlete and finally as a high school activities director,” Bryce Wilson, Flathead’s AD, said in a statement. “He was a positive person who led with great passion, commitment and dedication.”