By this spring, the large, vacant field in San Juan Bautista
once used intermittently for festivals, fairs and parking will be
replaced with baseball and soccer fields.
Hollister – By this spring, the large, vacant field in San Juan Bautista once used intermittently for festivals, fairs and parking will be replaced with baseball and soccer fields.
The Aromas/San Juan School District owns the property where the field was torn out this week. Through county funding and private donations, the district has progressed on plans to develop the six-acre property next to San Juan School on The Alameda into ball fields.
Plans call for two soccer fields and two baseball fields, with enough parking for around 100 cars.
The project has been met with enthusiasm by city and county officials, who feel it will provide recreation for youths in the San Juan area. Some controversy arose Thursday morning, however, when the district received a call from a community member concerned that the piece of land was a sensitive historical site, and could not be built on or dug up.
Superintendent Jackie Muñoz said district officials were looking into the claim, but until then they would plan to move forward with the project.
The district has put calls in to the planning department, various historical societies and a certified archeologist while hoping to hear a confirmed response by today, Muñoz said.
“We’re checking all the legalities. We’re working to make sure that we’re in compliance,” Muñoz said. “But we’re just trying to develop the field for the kids.”
Installing ballfields at the property has been in planning for several years, Muñoz said, but the district did not have the funds to move forward. In April, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay $67,769 for the project.
The district also sought out community and corporate sponsors to help pay for the new field.
An Aromas/San Juan parent, Tony Alameda, is donating the grading for the project, and Granite Construction is helping to put in the parking lot.
“We’re just so thrilled so many partners have contributed to this,” Muñoz said.
While the project went under way Monday morning, with tractors tearing out the grass and grading beginning, it may be a while before the project is done, said Maintenance Manager Joseph Reyes.
“We gave ourselves one year, but we’re hoping to be open for the ’08 season,” Reyes said. “It’s something that the city really needs.”
Other community members agreed. San Juan Bautista City Manager Jan McClintock said the project would be a “great thing” for the community – especially for youth.
“We look forward to the school getting finished and it being an asset for adults and kids in the community,” McClintock said.
