Librarian’s Efforts Provide Spark for a New Gymnasium

For years, teachers and parents of Yorba Linda Middle School students have said the campus should have a gymnasium where the children could play sports and hold recess on rainy days. Now they are getting one, thanks in large part to school librarian Judy Kelly.

Four years ago, Kelly organized parents and teachers to raise money for the Casa Loma Field House, a 25,000-square-foot gymnasium that will be dedicated Saturday.

“I was particularly concerned about it because on rainy days . . . they came into the library” instead of going to physical education classes, Kelly said. Though the library is the biggest room on campus, it was never large enough to house dozens of students at once.

Kelly’s group, the multipurpose facility committee, held a series of fund-raising events, including a Christmas tree auction and a root beer float sale on the Fourth of July. But they only managed to raise $43,000, far short of the millions needed.

Their efforts, however, captured the attention of the community, and the City Council voted to allocate $3 million to the campaign.

The original plan for the school, now 30 years old, called for one large multipurpose room. That was put off, though, because the school district ran out of funds to build it.

“It was something that had been promised years ago but was never delivered,” Councilwoman Barbara Kiley said.

The city and the school district will split the cost of maintaining the facility, which has a gymnasium large enough for two basketball courts and a multipurpose room.