‘On time and under budget:’ School officials celebrate new athletic field at La Cañada High
Last Thursday, just two days after the start of La Cañada Unified school year, district officials and La Cañada High School administrators celebrated the recent completion of an “on time and under budget” track and football field in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Five years ago, we needed to replace our field,” LCHS Principal Ian McFeat addressed a small crowd of local dignitaries gathered for the occasion. “And now today it’s replaced and it’s unbelievable.”
McFeat acknowledged the effort of Mark Evans, La Cañada Unified’s chief business and operations officer, who spearheaded the $1.3-million effort to replace the football field’s badly worn turf and the track surrounding it. The principal also thanked the many groups and associations who convened in a special committee to oversee details as the project progressed.
“It was a project that involved all kinds of community stakeholders,” he said. “We even had students on the committee overseeing how things would look and paying attention to every detail — that level of specificity allowed us to come in on time and under budget.”
LCUSD Governing Board President David Sagal expressed his gratitude, from a band parent perspective, for the safe, rubberized and heat-resistant surfaces that replaced their old and crumbling predecessors.
“To see the kids marching around with all the divots and the holes while playing a clarinet made me very nervous,” he quipped in his remarks.
Beginning the ceremony, Evans stretched yellow ribbon between a water reel irrigation device and a green John Deere utility vehicle. Sagal pulled the ribbon tight as school board Vice President Dan Jeffries did the honors with a giant pair of ceremonial scissors. The tiny crowd cheered its approval.
Evans thanked previous board members for their foresight in squirreling away funds, even during a recession, to help budget for what everyone agreed was a necessity.
“It’s a dedication and a commitment to save up and put away for something like this, and it’s a hard thing to do,” he said.
--
Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
