LeBard renovation nearing completion

Bryce Alderton

Sixth in a series

LeBard Stadium will move one step closer to completion of a

massive reconstruction project when crews begin laying down the

much-anticipated synthetic grass, or FieldTurf, at Orange Coast

College Monday.

OCC Athletic Director Barbara Bond said the renovation to the

venerable 49-year-old stadium, one of a handful of projects in a

campus-wide refurbishment, is nearing completion, but some tasks

remain before the first high school and community college teams do

battle.

Bond said the stadium will be ready when Orange Coast hosts

Saddleback Sept. 18. The Pirates will play their first home game,

Sept. 4, at Newport Harbor High against Glendale.

Golden West, which also calls LeBard Stadium home, will play its

first two games of the season at Westminster High.

The first high school game inside the remodeled stadium, however,

won’t be played until Oct. 21, when Estancia High hosts Westminster

in a Golden West League clash.

Bond said a disability ramp near the west bleachers won’t be

completed by OCC’s Sept. 18 game, but needs to be finished before the

stadium can host high school-sized crowds.

“Community college games don’t draw as many spectators [as high

school games],” Bond said.

The annual Battle of the Bay pitting Newport Harbor against Corona

del Mar drew about 7,000 fans to LeBard Stadium last season while

traditional rivals OCC and Golden West played in front of roughly 600

the final Saturday of the season.

“We want to make it as safe as possible,” Bond said.

The renovation caused Newport-Mesa high school teams such as Costa

Mesa, CdM and Estancia to alter their schedules accordingly.

All three teams have used both Davidson Field at Newport Harbor

and OCC for home games. CdM scheduled all of its games at Newport

Harbor this season while Costa Mesa slotted its first four home

contests at the same site.

Bond said it will take two weeks, beginning Monday, for crews to

lay the FieldTurf, which is sewn together like a quilt and covered

with a mixture of rubber and sand.

Ice plant or ivy is also expected to be planted along walls

surrounding the field, a flat surface wider than its former

natural-grass counterpart made to accommodate soccer games.

Widening the field meant changes to disability access, along with

elimination of seats.

“Viewing in the [disabled-seating areas] is so much improved,”

Bond said. “You’re not on the lower level, but midway up, so you have

a real good view. We lost very few seats, but we had to do that to

make it compliant [with disability laws].”

The former football field crowned in the middle, allowing water to

drain but providing an uneven playing surface.

Bond said the foundation is elevated and the drains are installed.

All that waits is the synthetic grass, used by several college and

NFL teams. The turf is supposed to provide a softer cushion when

players fall, along with requiring minimal maintenance.

Coaches patrolling the sidelines on the new turf will also

encounter changes this season.

They will use wireless head sets to communicate with assistants

upstairs in the press box, Bond said.

FieldTurf was also installed on Coast’s soccer field, which will

be ready for the OCC women’s team’s opener against Mt. San Antonio

Tuesday.

Renovations to bleachers on both sides of LeBard Stadium were also

completed, Bond said.

“They have been real good about being on schedule,” Bond said.