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Lights, bleachers, action? Proposed project at Crescenta Valley High moves forward

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At Crescenta Valley High School, the first home football games and better seating for graduations took a step toward reality as Glendale Unified officials designated $50,000 to create preliminary plans for updated bleachers and lighting at the school’s main field.

Stephen Dickinson, the district’s chief business and financial officer, confirmed funds will be set aside so that Newport Beach-based tBP/Architecture can create drawings and specifications for an on-campus facility where Osborne Field is currently located.

The plans will then be sent to Orange County-based consultants Placeworks, which will develop an environmental impact report that will need to pass the standards laid out in the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.

After school board members review the initial project and environmental impact report, they will vote on whether to approve construction sometime next year.

“We have not allocated Measure S or any other funds for actually doing it until we find out if it’s doable,” Dickinson said. “If all the CEQA stuff comes back and says, ‘Yup, you’re all good to go,’ then the board could then say, and I would expect them to say, ‘We will allocate that money to get that done.’”

The board approved a $153,112 agreement with Placeworks in June, but discovered through discussions with the consultant that a detailed environmental impact report would need at least some basic project parameters.

Three months later, the board contracted with tBP to create a vision of what stadium-type bleachers and lighting would be like at Crescenta Valley High.

While many specifics are yet to be decided, Dickinson gave a broad outline of the bleacher planning.

“I don’t know exactly what the max capacity we’re shooting for yet is,” he said. “It’s bleachers just on one side of the field, on the north side or school side of the field, roughly from the 20- to the 20-yard lines.”

TBP’s proposal is estimated to be ready by January.

The total cost of just over $200,000 will come directly from Measure S funds.

Dickinson said he’s not too worried about the bleachers or lighting. His main concern for the area surrounding the school would be parking in a community that already lacks adequate parking.

While Osborne Field is home to several of Crescenta Valley High athletic teams, including soccer and lacrosse, the varsity and junior varsity football teams play their home games at a crowded venue — Glendale High’s Moyse Field, which is home for teams from Glendale, Crescenta Valley and Hoover highs.

The site also formerly hosted teams from Loyola and Village Christian high schools.

“My experience and my knowledge of Crescenta Valley is that it’s been kind of a desire of that high school and that community for some time to have its own bleachers,” Dickinson said. “The football team will no longer have to travel to Glendale, and the seating will certainly be better for graduations.”

andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter @campadresports

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