Campaign for athletic facilities kicking off

Marisa O’Neil

Residents and business leaders are looking to build a field of dreams

-- and a pool of dreams -- in the city.

Costa Mesa United, a nonprofit community group created to raise

funds to build a 2,500-seat athletic facility at Estancia High School

and a 50-meter swimming pool at Costa Mesa High School, will

officially kick off its campaign Thursday at the Hilton Costa Mesa.

The event, which will be from 5 to 7 p.m., will launch efforts to

raise $7.25 million for the projects.

Right now, Newport-Mesa Unified School District has only one

stadium, in Newport Beach, for all four of its high schools’ athletic

teams.

“Costa Mesa is the largest city in the entire state without its

own football stadium,” said John Ursini,a Costa Mesa United committee

member and organizer of the event. Measure A, the voter-approved

multi-school improvement project, does not cover athletic facilities.

And getting money from the state for such new construction is not

possible, said school board member Dave Brooks, who is also on the

Costa Mesa United committee.

If the group builds the pool and multi-sport stadium, Brooks said,

the district has agreed to take over operations and accept them for

school use.

Because so many schools currently share so few facilities, schools

have to get creative with their scheduling, meaning playing some

football games on Thursdays or holding late swim practices, Brooks

said. Costa Mesa High School also occasionally uses the nearby Orange

Coast College football stadium.

“You don’t really think about it, but scheduling is extremely

difficult for the schools,” Ursini said. “It’s a piece of the puzzle

we need to make this a full-fledged community.”

And never having home-field advantage can take its toll on players

and the community, Ursini said. He sees a future with the traditional

Friday night games that draw the locals to support their teams.

“That’s part of what we’re trying to do,” he said. “I think we’ve

lost that lately. We don’t rally around our teams. When we’re

traveling to somebody else’s field, we can’t feel like this is our

home.”

The swimming pool would augment the 25-yard pool currently at

Costa Mesa High School. Having a full Olympic-sized pool with seating

for 500 would allow them to host championship meets, he said.

Both schools would share the new stadium and swimming pool.

Through a joint-use agreement with the school district, city

residents would also have access to the facilities.

“The benefit to city would be ability to use the pool and also the

field at the stadium,” said Byron de Arakal, who sits on the city’s

parks and recreation commission. “There are lots of beneficial uses

for both sides. It would be a great addition for both.”

Costa Mesa United is hoping for community support to raise money

for the new facilities. So far, members said they have raised about

$2 million.

Thursday night’s event, which Ursini dubbed a “friend-raiser,”

will introduce Costa Mesa United to the community with a video

presentation and a keynote address from former baseball commissioner

Peter Ueberroth.

“Our theme its that this is more than just Costa Mesa and Estancia

high schools,” Ursini said. “It’s the whole local area. It benefits

the whole city.”

The Hilton Costa Mesa is at 3050 Bristol Street.