Improvements Proceed for Westlake Field : High school football: Warriors should play this fall at unlighted facility. Also, plans for a stadium are approved.

A community group has received approval to improve the football field at Westlake High, paving the way for the Warriors this fall to play on campus for the first time since the campus opened in 1979.

“I think this is going to be super for the football program and the whole student body to see them play on our own soil,” Coach Jim Benkert said.

The bulldozers were out on the field Friday, a day after the Conejo Valley Unified School District authorized Community Action for Westlake Stadium to start the project.

Improvements for the field will include portable bleachers for 3,500, a scoreboard, public address system, concession stands, restrooms, new sod and an irrigation system. Previously, Westlake’s varsity and sophomore teams have played home games at Thousand Oaks High. The freshman team has played on the field being improved. CAWS members are considering renting portable lights in order to stage games on Friday nights. If the field remains unlighted, however, Westlake would schedule games for Saturday afternoons if opposing teams agree. If teams object, Westlake would play Friday nights at an alternate site.

If all goes as planned, the Warriors could play their first on-campus game Oct. 16 against Marmonte League rival Agoura. The team’s first home game of 1992--a nonleague game against Hart--is scheduled for Sept. 25. The site has yet to be determined.

“The kids have never played a home game in 13 years,” said Paula Walendy, a CAWS executive committee member whose son is a sophomore at Westlake. “We have an incomplete school.”

The school district has contributed $64,478 toward the project, and CAWS raised $27,750. The school’s booster club and student government pitched in $8,000.

The improved field is viewed as an interim move before a permanent stadium can be built.

Plans for a stadium, complete with permanent seating, lights and a press box, were approved Thursday by the state architect’s office. CAWS has raised $563,000 toward the total cost of $1,080,000. The community group will ask the school district for a loan to cover the remaining amount for a completion date of August, 1993, according to group chairman Michael Chopp. However, school officials say that the current tight fiscal situation might stall the project. The school board was forced to balance its $72.1-million budget for the 1992-93 year by cutting $2.8 million and might cut more if state funding is reduced once the Legislature approves its budget.

“The financial condition of the school district is a player in the decision making, as well as the ability to find a way to pay the district back,” school board member Richard Newman said. “I think a stadium for any high school is a benefit not only to the high school, but the community. We hope to see this, but it may require patience.”