Thanksgiving is like the pause button on the remote, a moment in time to stop and think. Thanks to a few local community neighbors who paused and shared their wish lists for our town, with ideas for change in U.C. Michael Alston, a U.C. resident for the last 12 years, has suggested changing the name of the University City area south of the railroad tracks.
“The part of University City north of the railroad tracks next to UCHS is quite urban and commercial compared to the residential enclaves on both sides of Governor Drive. To clearly distinguish these fine bedroom communities from the questionable sprawl of the UTC area, consider identifying the portion of University City located south of the railroad tracks and north of I-52 with its own name. A distinctive name such as Governor Park will lend better focus to future efforts to preserve our family-oriented neighborhoods with our established schools, parks, shopping and business park.”
While Governor Park has a nice ring to it, what about University Canyon Community or Rose Canyon to rename our community at the base of the Golden Triangle? The point Alston was making is U.C. is not a homogeneous Golden Triangle community from the base to the apex. In a more playful mood, we might name South U.C. something like Four Corners Gas (think Genesee and Governor) or Weedville. Is it time to change the community’s name and what would your choice be?
Alston also hears rumors that one of the two shopping centers on Governor Drive may be courted by housing developers when the multi-year lease of the anchor tenant expires. He would like to have the centers remain as they are. Otherwise, one wisecracking writer suggested we name South U.C. Densityville, if developers have their way.
Karen Walter has seen a lot of changes in her U.C. community, not all of them positive. She would love to include longer library hours, especially Saturdays, on her wish list. “Ask Scott Peters to devote some of the District 1 discretionary funds to extending the library hours at least on Saturday, to 5:30 p.m. The Governor Drive library is full of people on Saturday but currently closes at 2:30 p.m.”
“I understand,” Walter says, “that one of the other Council districts has longer hours because the district’s council person used some of his office’s discretionary fund for that purpose.”
Longtime resident Leslie Anderson has a viable vision for the future of University City on her wish list when it comes to U.C. High School, where her younger daughter Dayna is a senior and from which her older daughter Brooke graduated. Both girls, like their parents, are distinguished athletes and competitive runners. Although Anderson and her husband John could just sit back, knowing Dayna is nearly done with high school, they love their community enough to unselfishly give time and talent to a project called “Building the Community Together.”
University City High School is 26 years old and its athletic fields are in dire need of renovation. District cutbacks for upkeep on the fields, irrigation problems and a lack of adequate water pressure are some of the negative issues confronting the school. The student population has grown enormously and hovers somewhere between 1,900 and 2,000 students. With increased student population is an increase in the number of teams and variety of sports. “Schools attract people to an area. Field renovations are necessary and long overdue. We need the support of the community to make it happen,” Leslie Anderson told the UCPG last Thursday when she made a PowerPoint presentation in hope of getting support from the planning group and perhaps some of the FBA funds for this costly project.
More than a year ago, Anderson initiated conversations with other community members, like U.C. activist Greg Zinser and Jim Winters, landscape architect with the City and father of a daughter at UCHS and two daughters who have graduated. The Booster Club was brought on board, as well as the alumni group organized by Dr. Elaine Hanson, current director of EdUCate! Council President Scott Peters is excited about the project and is giving the volunteer committee his support as well.
Winter drew up detailed plans for both the upper fields and lower fields, while Zinser made a business plan. UCHS principal Ernie Smith has become a head cheerleader for the project. Ed Yandall, a longtime coach and athletic director, is in the process of mapping out a plan for joint use with the city. Rick Eveleth, another U.C. resident and former La Jolla High athletic director, joined with Marilyn and Scott Weber as part of this committee.
Decomposed granite covers the west end of the upper fields. The proposed plan is to turn that area into a girls varsity and JV softball field with a dirt infield and synthetic turf outfield. According to Anderson, “Adjacent to that would be a multi-purpose field with an east/west orientation which could be used by field hockey, lacrosse and soccer. The baseball field would have minor modifications such as improved irrigation and turf renovation, a batting cage, scoreboard and some fencing. At the very east end of the upper fields would be another multi-purpose field that could be used for soccer and lacrosse.”
The lower field would include a composite nine-lane track with a synthetic infield for track and field, football, and soccer. All of the UCHS football games with the exception of Homecoming were played away this year. The success of the 2006 football program can be attributed to a fan base and improved playing conditions away.
Does anyone have Bill Gates’ cell phone number? He has supported charter schools; maybe someone could pitch him this worthwhile project.
At first when you hear the costs of the University City High School project, you feel stunned by the amount, but after thoroughly reviewing the renovation, you realize that these costs will pay back the community a hundredfold. Artificial turf does not need maintenance the way grass does. Kids need healthy outlets like sports teams.
San Diego Unified will commit $400,000 toward the turf football field. In late November, this project is going to be reviewed by UCHS district and city personnel to explore joint use. San Diego has many joint use projects with schools, although not many of them are high schools. Both Spreckels Elementary and Standley Middle School enjoy this practical venture. U.C. is park-deprived, and doing a joint venture with the city would make this project eligible for additional funding.
The breakdown in costs is as follows:
1. Synthetic football field and composition nine-lane track surface: $2.0 million
2. Softball field and adjoining multi-purpose field: $2.5 million
3. Multi-purpose field and renovations to baseball field: $2.5 million.
The final price tag would be slightly less than $7 million. To paraphrase a popular ad, “$7 million for renovating 26-year old UCHS athletic fields to 21st century standards…student participation, lifetime skills learned, healthy activities…priceless.”
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. Thanks to Michael Alston and Karen Walters for challenging the status quo; special thanks to Leslie Anderson and her team for having an unselfish vision for someone else’s kids in her community. Thanks to a Bill Gates type who will step forward to write a check. Naming rights? Who knows?