District OKs city-funded study for additions to Costa Mesa High stadium plan

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District board approved an offer from the city of Costa Mesa to fund a $15,000 feasibility study for possible upgrades to Costa Mesa High School’s planned stadium.

The board voted 6 to 1 on Tuesday to OK the study on whether it’s feasible to add team rooms and more seating to the $8.5-million Mustangs Field, which as currently planned would have 1,000 seats.

The stadium is under construction on campus, with space reserved for possible seating expansion and the addition of team rooms and more restrooms. It is expected to open by this fall’s football season.

The possible additions have been called for by school parents, boosters, students and alumni. Some want the stadium’s capacity doubled to 2,000.

“It’s our time,” Gay Royer, who graduated from Costa Mesa High in 1963, told the board Tuesday night. “It’s time for more seats and team rooms. We deserve the best, like all schools do.”

Team rooms generally are private spaces for athletes and coaches that are separate from locker rooms.

The Costa Mesa City Council approved $25,000 toward the feasibility study earlier this month.

According to Newport-Mesa spokeswoman Annette Franco, the district needs only $15,000 for the study. Should it require more funding down the line, the city will have the remaining $10,000. The study will be conducted by the school district, Franco said.

This month, Newport-Mesa Supt. Fred Navarro received a letter from Costa Mesa Chief Executive Tom Hatch offering to fund the study.

The letter requested that the study include a review of different seating options, such as adding 1,000 permanent seats, using portable bleachers or a combination of the two. The combination of additional seats and bleachers could bring capacity close to 3,000.

The letter also asked that the study include team rooms.

District Trustee Martha Fluor voted against the study, expressing opposition to the idea of up to 3,000 seats.

All the proposed additions could cost $1.7 million, a third of which — $570,000 — may be funded by Costa Mesa City Hall should the City Council approve the funds this summer when it finalizes the city’s budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

Costa Mesa parent Dena Fisher said the stadium and the proposed additions would be important to the school’s marching band.

“It would give them the space not only to practice but to play at home games in their own stadium,” she said. Costa Mesa High’s football, soccer and track and field teams currently use Jim Scott Stadium at Estancia High School.

“We have over 100 [marching] band members who have a hard time getting over to Jim Scott for tournaments and games,” said Fisher, whose son is a junior in the band. “It would be really beneficial for the band and the community to have a full working stadium.”

Staff writer Bradley Zint contributed to this report.