By Khalida Sarwari
The community got a preview earlier this month of a $1.4 million sports plaza Saratoga High School officials want to unveil in time for the first home game of the football season in September.
The plans for a sports plaza at the stadium entry that includes a concession stand, restrooms and a “donor wall” of granite tiles, each bearing the name of an individual donor, were revealed at a school board meeting on Jan. 9. The Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District board of trustees agreed to move forward with the project, said principal Paul Robinson.
“We’ve already submitted architectural drawings. We’ve got almost all the funding from donations,” he said. “We’re still hoping to pick up another $200,000 or $300,000 just to make sure we have everything, but we’re going ahead and moving forward.”
Construction of the plaza is slated to start next month and last at least until June. The snack bar and restrooms may even be done in time for the high school’s commencement ceremony, Robinson said.
“It’ll be a much nicer setup than what we’ve had in the past where we’ve literally had just fold-up tables and pop-up tents,” he said. “We wanted to develop something that’d be really nice for people that enter our stadium and have walls of appreciation for those that for many years have donated to our athletic programs.”
The sports plaza is just one component of a multi-phase, multimillion-dollar overhaul of the school’s athletic facilities. The renovation began last year with the replacement of the football field turf with artificial turf. That project was completed in July at a cost of almost $600,000.
In the project’s second phase, artificial turf will replace the grass fields at the stadium for baseball and softball as well as the expanded multi-purpose field for soccer, lacrosse and field hockey. The fields, which are about a decade old, are also used for the marching band, physical education classes and community events. The beginning of this phase is contingent upon the school’s ability to secure the $3 million required for the project.
“If we’re able to reach our goal of getting those funds by April, we would be able to start in June on redoing those fields,” Robinson said. “We’ve done a lot of preliminary work with estimates and working with engineers. Now it’s just finding the financial side.”
The effort to raise funds for the project is being led by the Saratoga High School Foundation, which launched a “Red Pride Capital” campaign in January 2013 to raise nearly $5 million for the project. Thus far, around 125 donors have committed to the cause.
“We really appreciate how many people have stepped up, no matter how small or how large the donation has been,” Robinson said. “Even folks that no longer have students at Saratoga High have seen this as something valuable for the school. So that’s what’s been real exciting, just to see how the community has come together to say this is something we’d like to see happen.”
But the project still has a long way to go. The foundation is seeking additional donations to help the campaign meet its fundraising goal for the project. Contributions can be sent to the Saratoga High School Foundation, 20300 Herriman Ave., Saratoga CA 95070.
For more information about the campaign, contact Robinson at 408.867.3411.
Sports plaza at Saratoga High should be open in time for football
