What will it take for Pitman High to get a stadium? Here’s Turlock school district’s vision
To as soon as possible be able to safely host soccer games and track-and-field meets past daylight at Pitman High, school district administration recommends moving forward with a lighting project there “immediately,” the school board was told Tuesday night.
In an information-only presentation to trustees, Assistant Superintendent Barney Gordon said district staff is working to select an architect for the lighting project and will bring a recommendation to the board in June.
A slideshow Gordon presented on the track and sports field facility at Pitman showed an estimated lighting cost of $510,000 to $612,000. That’s but one bit of the estimated cost of a “full stadium buildout” at the school, which would be between $9.1 million and $10.9 million.
The presentation showed that among other “chunks,” as Gordon called them, of the stadium project would be home bleachers, including a press box, at a cost of up to $3 million; visitor bleachers, up to $2.2 million; two restrooms and concession areas, up to $1.9 million; a ticket booth, walkways and scoreboard, up to $684,000; and about $2.5 million in other so-called “soft costs” that typically make up about 30% of any projects costs.
Tackling the project in these smaller chunks hopefully will get the district to the point where there is a stadium at Pitman, Gordon told the board. But he noted that making the full facility a reality will require community support that in the past has been lacking.
He cited results of Measure N and O bond polling in 2016 in which the item “Build a stadium at Pitman High School” fell dead last in community support. Among projects most strongly supported were providing classroom access for disabled students; up-to-date classroom computers and tech; and and science, technology and engineering labs.
Gordon made clear to The Bee in an email Wednesday that there is no timeline for development of the Pitman facilities. “We are committed to installing lights; all other pieces of the stadium are being evaluated and more accurate estimates are being developed so we can identify potential future funding,” he wrote.
Broad support “vitally important”
While a stadium at Pitman no doubt has strong support among that school’s community, Gordon said at the board meeting, the voter base of Turlock Unified extends well beyond the city of Turlock to communities including Keyes, the Chatom Union School District and down to the Merced County border area.
A bond usually is how a district raises “an adequate supply of money to build a large facility, whether that’s a science building, a performing arts building, a football stadium or something like that,” he said, to remind Pitman stadium backers that it’s “vitally important” to “bring positive energy to this project and garner community support for this project.”
Asked by a board member for a possible timeline should the district hire an architect in June, Gordon replied that lighting would not be in place at the start of the school year, but there might be temporary lighting that would allow for at least practices if not competitions at the field. He said that if all goes well, his hope is that the permanent lighting would be in place by the end of the 2022 calendar year.
After Gordon’s presentation, Pitman teacher and former softball coach Jennifer Andrade was among a couple of people to address the board. She has been among the vocal proponents for lighting at Pitman track and field.
“We’re super excited at the possibility of having lights out at our field,” she said before adding that the 2016 community seems “forever ago” and backers would like to have an updated survey done to “get some real data on insight from all stakeholders.”
Parents of middle schoolers who will be going into high school are “chomping at the bit,” Andrade said. “They want to be involved in their students’ athletics, they want to be involved in their students’ education, especially with these past two years where their children have missed out on so much” because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
