Decomposed Granite Becomes Lush Turf Playfield for Local School and Community: The City of San Diego and San Diego Unified School District Dedicate New Joint-use Field
WHAT: San Diego City Councilmember Marti Emerald and San Diego Unified School District Board of Education Trustee Kevin Beiser will join students, parents, school staff and community members as they officially dedicate the new multipurpose joint-use field at San Diego Unified School District's Language Academy. The City of San Diego developed the new field that will be used by the students during the school day and the community when school isn't in session.
WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 2-3 p.m. (For time of events, see info on visuals.)
WHERE: 4961 64th Street (92115) Media parking will be available on site. Directions from College Avenue: Drive east on Montezuma Road, south on Art Street, east on Mesita Drive to 64th Street. (School phone: 619.287.1182)
VISUALS: Approximately a thousand students will parade around the perimeter in an Olympic-style opening ceremony. After remarks by the guest speakers, the event will culminate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony with city and school district officials, the school principal, students and community members.
GUEST SPEAKERS/INTERVIEWS: Marti Emerald, District 7 councilmember; Kevin Beiser, Board of Education trustee; Stacey LoMedico, City of San Diego Park and Recreation director; Veronika Lopez-Mendez, Language Academy principal; Mike Kenny/Robert Henderson, members of Friends of the Language Academy Organization. Students will also be available for interviews. Interviews will be available in English and Spanish.
BACKGROUND: The multipurpose field is scheduled to be open to the public next month (March 2012). The field is approximately1.4 acres of school district property that was a decomposed granite playfield for its Language Academy (formerly Montezuma Elementary School). Utilizing $1265 million in Community Development Block Grant funds and Developer Impact Fees, the City of San Diego developed the field with project partners Estrada Land Planning and Hellas Construction. The improvements include a new multi-sport field using synthetic turf, field track, parking and accessibility for people with physical disabilities.
Established in 1948, and updated in 2002, the city and the school district have a long-standing agreement to maximize shared use of schools and/or park land to mutually benefit the city and the school district. The facilities shared by the city and the school district include multipurpose turf fields, lighted athletic fields, tennis courts, gymnasiums, parking facilities, and libraries. In total, the school district and the city currently have 73 joint-use agreements.
For more information, contact Cynthia Reed-Porter, communications supervisor for San Diego Unified School District, at (619) 546-3378 or creed-porter@sandi.net.
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Cynthia Reed-Porter, Communications Supervisor | Communications Office | San Diego Unified School District
Offices: (619) 725-5579 or (858) 637-3607 | Mobile: (619) 546-3378 | E-mail: creed-porter@sandi.net
Websites: www.sandi.net (district) | www.sandi.net/Facilities (Facilities Planning and Construction/Proposition S)
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