Skip to Content

Construction delays to move Arroyo Grande High School graduation, maybe Nipomo too

Graduation at Arroyo Grande High School will have a much different look this year.

This week, Lucia Mar Unified School District announced it is moving the ceremony due to delayed renovations of Doug Hitchen Stadium.

“At this stage, we hoped to be doing finishing touches and have all this work easily done, but due to delays out of our control, it’s not happening,” said Jim Empey, Lucia Mar Assistant Superintendent, Business Services.

Instead of holding commencement in the stadium, the ceremony will be held in a temporary site at the school’s athletic practice field that is located on the far southern end of the campus.

“We want to accommodate everybody,” said Empey. “We toyed with other options of other sites or maybe a smaller venue, which may result in all family members and friends not being able to attend and we don’t want that, so we have a spacious athletic field that we’re going to bring in a portable stage, portable sound system, portable bleachers. We’ll have people directing attendees to the site and it will be as a Grade-A occasion as it ever is. It will be different, but it will still be great.”

The move stems from long-delayed construction to renovate the decades-old facility.

“We turned (plans) in to the Division of the State Architects (DSA) in October, which is normally plenty of time,” said Empey. “They usually turn around in a week or two and due to delays out of our control, the State Architects have chosen to add extra scrutiny to any bleacher project, any project involving bleachers, whether it’s a gymnasium or stadium or anything of that nature throughout the state, so it totally blindsided us and we had no idea this was coming.”

The plan was for construction to begin on February 1 at Arroyo Grande, as well as the Nipomo High School stadium.

Bleachers and the press box at Hitchen Stadium were torn down earlier this year to make way for planned construction.

Right now, the site is nothing but a big hole, as it waits for construction to begin.

The Measure I bond is helping to pay for the multi-million upgrade to the facilities on both campuses.

Improvements each site is set to receive includes new bleachers, press box, all-weather track, new restrooms, improved ADA (American with Disabilities Act) compliance and other amenities.

This week, Lucia Mar sent out letters to families with students graduating in the Class of 2019 informing them of the decision to move the ceremony.

Empey emphasized the alternative location will have enough seating for the big audience, typically numbering a few thousand, that annually attends the ceremony.

The class size is expected to be about 460 graduates, which each student likely bringing several family members and friends.

“We’ve reached out to other districts, Cal Poly, Hancock, Cuesta to get portable bleachers, so we will make sure and have an abundant amount of bleachers for everyone that needs a seat,” said Empey.

He added the unique location will allow families to be closer to the students and stage, which will add to the experience, giving everyone a memory they’ll never forget.

“We have a resilent of students and family and friends. They’re proud and they will support this and we’ll have a great graduation. It may mean walking a little farther or driving to a different spot, but it will be a special and a great day.”

At Nipomo, renovations are also at a standstill.

However, even with work yet to begin, Lucia Mar officials believe graduation can be held in the stadium.

“Right now, we’re still optimistic that we’ll be able to host on our campus in our stadium,” said Nipomo Principal John Denno. “The existing stands will remain. There’s no impact on those actual seats. There is some infrastructure around those bleachers that may impact our graduation, but our hope is that we’ll be able to access those and bring in some supplemental bleachers around out on the track, maybe behind each end zone and conduct our ceremony as we have in years past with some slight adjustments.”

While the stadium remains a possibility, Lucia Mar and the school are also looking at alternative sites for graduation, such as the quad area.

“It’s a nice amphitheater-style,” said Denno. “We have a stage. We have access to power. We can supplemental seating and we feel confident we can accommodate as many people in that setting as we traditionally have out on football field.”

Denno said there should be about 220 graduates.

He thinks the quad area would provide enough space for the ceremony and also allow for a more personal experience for graduates and their families due to their closer proximity.

Denno added that the upgraded stadium, once finished, will be well worth the wait.

“It will be a facility that we will all be proud of,” said Denno. It really supports our community with access to an all-weather track, a beautiful stadium to support a variety of sports, football, soccer, track and field. I think it’s going to be a great venue for our community and community schools to participate in.”

It’s unknown when a final decision will be made on the Nipomo graduation site.

Like at Arroyo Grande, Lucia Mar sent out letters this week informing Class of 2019 families about the situation.

The school district also let families at both schools know seating capacity for graduation ceremonies will be unlimited and there will be no ticketing needed.

There is hope final approval from DSA may come as soon as next week, perhaps on Monday, which will allow construction to finally begin.

Lucia Mar is confident renovations will be completed by the start of the 2019-20 school year in August.

Article Topic Follows: News

Jump to comments ↓

Author Profile Photo

News Channel 3-12

Email the News Channel 3-12 Team

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

News Channel 3-12 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation.

Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here

If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here.

Skip to content