Occidental College Drops Plans for Lighted Softball Field

Facing community opposition, Occidental College scrapped a plan to build a softball field and hammer-throw ring, but will build a new science building at the 120-acre campus in Eagle Rock, officials said Tuesday.

Residents who opposed the new fields and lighting because they said they would destroy their hilly neighborhood’s rustic ambience were overjoyed by the college’s decision.

“I am thrilled,” said physician Jeff Jacobs, who lives across the street from the proposed softball field. “I’m pleased that in these days, if people get together, they can actually get something done.”

Residents formed a group last year called Citizens Against Excessive Noise and Lights, or CANAL, and collected more than 500 signatures opposing the college’s plan. Some opposed the field because they feared increased traffic on the narrow streets. Others said the lights would be a glaring intrusion into nearby homes.

Occidental officials filed a conditional use permit application last year for the new science building. Part of the expansion included the new softball diamond because they said Bell Field didn’t meet size regulations set by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn., which governs intercollegiate athletics.

School officials learned last month that city planners would require only 62 new parking slots on campus to accommodate the science building--a far cry from the 170 that had been planned for, Occidental spokesman Jim Tranquada said.

The need for fewer parking spaces prompted school officials to rethink the elimination of Bell Field and the construction of a new softball field on a three-acre, hilly parcel that the school owns next to the main campus.

Occidental President Theodore R. Mitchell then decided to enlarge Bell Field to meet NCAA regulations and to abandon the new field and lighting for the immediate future, Tranquada said.

The school filed an amended application earlier this month to only cover the science building’s construction and minor work at the campus football stadium.

“Since the city decided we’d need only half of the parking we thought we would [need], that enabled us to reconfigure things,” Tranquada said.

However, some CANAL members aren’t entirely satisfied with Occidental’s compromise. Some are worried that the school may still want to install stadium lights on nearby playing fields, noting that Mitchell pointedly did not rule out the possibility of lights in the future at a recent meeting.

“It’s still very much on the table,” said CANAL President Martin Morgan, an acoustics engineer. “From that standpoint, we’re kind of disappointed.”

For their part, Occidental officials, stung by criticism that they were bad neighbors because of the ball field proposal, are glad the dispute appears to be over.

“CANAL will say what CANAL will say,” Tranquada said. “The college has always been desirous of a good relationship with our neighbors.”

And despite the recent dust-up, even Morgan says he’s still an Occidental fan.

“Overall, I’m very happy with the college,” he said.