COEUR d'ALENE - What's hard and wooden and in need of replacing before it's three years old?

Actually, it's not hardwood, it's synthetic, but the basketball floor inside the Kroc Community Center will be replaced this month.

The floor - which had a 25-year warranty and accommodates volleyball and soccer games too - was warping.

"We basically had a problem with the previous floor," said Major Ben Markham, director of business and operations at the center. "There is still a lot of discussion on what exactly happened."

In a nutshell, ridges began appearing in the floor, cup-like, that would leave voids in the distorted floor. Markham said the center wanted to fix the problem before it became a safety hazard, so it ripped out the entire surface last week.

Spokane-based Goebel Construction built the roughly $35 million Kroc Center, and used a subcontractor for the floor. The subcontractor is replacing it, and it should be done by the end of the month, in time for the Halloween party the community center has planned Oct. 31 for that spot.

Goebel Construction representatives could not be reached Monday.

Markham estimated it could be between a $200,000 and $300,000 floor, but said the warranty will cover the replacement. The exact cause on why it started to warp, or ridge, isn't clear.

"There is still a lot of discussion on what exactly happened," Markham said. "They're working on it from their end and we're working on it from ours, and we're going to get it taken care of."

Meanwhile, the Kroc Center is still 15,000 members strong. By next week, the roughly $2.6 million,140-stall upper level parking addition in the center's parking lot should be finished. It's also replacing eight treadmills, and adding more workout equipment for its lower level workout area.

"We shouldn't really be replacing treadmills, but we've had that much activity," Markham said.

The Kroc Center will turn 3 on May 11.