MARINA — Monterey Peninsula Unified School District will hold a town hall Thursday night to hear feedback from the community on Marina High School’s multi-use field and stadium project.
The meeting will take place at Marina High School Café from 5-6:30 p.m. and offers the community a chance to give input on the project features and design.
The district’s superintendent, PK Diffenbaugh, previously told the Herald that the multi-use field and stadium project is crucial for Marina High School’s community, as the high school is one of the few schools in Monterey County that doesn’t have a field to play home football or soccer games.
Currently, Marina High School’s sports play at various locations around the Peninsula. The football team plays at Monterey Peninsula College, while the soccer teams alternate between Seaside High School and Marina’s fields and the softball team plays at Los Arboles Middle School.
The money for the project comes from a $213 million facilities bond passed by voters in 2018. The Measure I bond provides funds for repairing and updating school facilities, including athletic facilities.
Money from Measure I bonds recently funded Marina’s new gymnasium in 2019 and Seaside High School’s renovated stadium and track, which was completed in 2020.
The district’s Board of Education moved forward with the planning process in early February and approved an agreement with Weston Miles Architects for design services in July. The agreement specified that the cost of design services would not exceed $736,650 of the Measure I school bond expense.
The project will not be formally approved until the board votes on the contract to build. Diffenbaugh previously told the Herald that the district hopes to complete the initial planning process with the architectural firm by late spring or early summer of 2023. After that, the project will need to be approved by the board before it will be able to be bid on.
While Marina High’s community appears supportive of the project, the district has experienced backlash over stadium renovations before – specifically in the case of Monterey High School’s Dan Albert Stadium.
The estimated $12 million project has been a main area of contention between the district and residents in the area and recently ground to a halt among multiple lawsuits.
The main complaint from residents and community members opposed to Monterey High School’s stadium renovations stems from concerns over noise and light pollution, according to the lawsuit filed by Preserving the Peace and Taxpayers for MPUSD Accountability.
Carmel Unified School District also hit a roadblock in their proposed stadium improvement project, which would add stadium lights and additional facilities to Carmel High School.
The district released an updated environmental impact report on the project in late August, which was met with community outrage and backlash over light pollution, project expansion and disruption to the nearby neighborhoods.
But Diffenbaugh remains optimistic about Marina’s field and stadium project, previously telling the Herald that the community’s support for the project is the biggest difference between Marina’s proposed project and Monterey’s stadium renovations.