Should Estancia High’s baseball field move? School district hires firm to explore options
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In another attempt to prevent baseballs from hitting nearby homes and the solar panels covering an Estancia High School parking lot, Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustees approved a contract Tuesday night for design services on a project to move the Costa Mesa school’s varsity baseball field.
The field’s new location hasn’t been decided, but concepts will be drawn up by Irvine-based LPA Inc. to present to the board for approval. The company’s contract is worth $15,500.
The district expects to have preliminary designs early next year, according to spokeswoman Annette Franco.
According to Estancia’s 2017 baseball schedule, the first varsity home game of the season will be March 21.
The current field’s third-base side is adjacent to homes on Joann Street, and its first-base line runs parallel to a row of six solar panels on the roof of a parking lot.
Before the district decided to explore moving the field, it installed, and later removed, 16 20-foot-tall poles intended to support a planned netting structure meant to keep foul balls from striking the nearby homes and solar panels. The structure was planned to be 80 feet tall and cost $675,800.
Before the project could be completed, residents on Joann Street expressed concern over how the poles, planted in August, would affect their property values and backyard views.
The district said it spent $337,000 on the project before taking down the poles in September. Removing them cost $133,800.
Some residents also questioned why the solar panels were not installed in one of the school’s front parking lots facing Placentia Avenue instead of in the lot by the baseball field.
According to district officials, the panels need to be where they are because the lot is closest to the proper electrical connections.
Twitter: @AlexandraChan10
