By Joani Gillam
and Maggie Robak
Staff Writers
The Manhattan Beach Athletic Foundation presented an updated version of the Mira Costa Athletic Master Plan to the Manhattan Beach Unified School District board on Nov. 17.
The newly proposed plan was created in response to complaints by coaches and parents of various Mira Costa sports programs, who were concerned that the previous design would not leave sufficient practice space and would harm the success of Mira Costa sports teams.
“After a wonderful effort with community members and coaches, we were able to find a workable plan that will benefit the athletic program as a whole,” MBAF President Gary Wayland said.
Six tennis courts facing Artesia Boulevard will move to a new location on campus to make way for a new parking lot, due to the construction of a new math and science building. Along with the tennis courts, a new discus field, batting cages and a turf multipurpose athletic field will be built.
“There are many benefits to this plan. Tennis will still have 10 total courts and the baseball fields can be used by other sports during off season,” Mira Costa Athletic Director Paula Spence said.
The plan includes remodeling and refurbishing the baseball snack stand and restrooms near the athletic fields. These facilities will need to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act standards, which regulate construction plans to ensure that all new buildings are handicapped accessible.
“The restrooms are very dated and were built in the 1950s. We need more applicable facilities for athletes and spectators to use,” Spence said.
The previous plans worried the baseball and softball boosters because two of the practice fields were going to be taken away. However, MBAF took this into consideration while creating the updated version of the Athletic Master Plan, allowing four baseball and softball fields.
“The baseball program feels good about the consideration given to the program. We were unanimous on the final design and compromise,” Mira Costa varsity baseball coach Cassidy Olson said. “We will lose a junior varsity diamond, but varsity will stay in position, which will relieve some pressure we were feeling before.”
While this proposal is in response to changes made by Measure BB, the athletic facilities will not be built using BB funds.
“There has been some misunderstanding in the past about Measure BB and athletic facilities improvements; however, we would like to emphasize that any improvements regarding athletics will be completely funded by MBAF,” Gary Wayland said.
To further educate the board and further discuss the plan, MBAF and the MBUSD board are currently holding a series of meetings prior to the vote to approve the Athletics Master Plan.
“We want to hold these workshops to finalize the plan for submission to the Division of the State Architect, so that the board would feel confident with this action item on January 12. These meetings will be helpful in getting everyone’s opinions involved,” MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews said.
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