An assessment report of Gilroy High School’s football stadium bleachers shows the district made the right call in moving last week’s 2013 graduation and promotion ceremonies to quad area, known as Centennial Circle.
San Jose-based Duquette Engineering, which was hired June 3 by GUSD to do a site inspection, reported the stadium bleachers “badly need maintenance and repair” due to “loose screws, loose bolts, bent planks and missing connectors.”
“None of these issues are major and all are repairable, but in the current condition – in our opinion – the bleachers are not safe to fully occupy,” said Principal Steven Duquette of Duquette Engineering.
Duquette did find the bottom six rows of bleachers to be safe for use, but with thousands of spectators anticipated to attend the GHS graduation and promotion ceremonies for Britton and Ascencion Solorsano middle schools, GUSD Superintendent Deborah Flores, along with district maintenance head Dan McAuliffe and other facilities staff, “felt that wouldn’t be enough seating” to best accommodate family members and friends in attendance.
“It was a surprise to people, but not to us (that the bleachers were in need of repair),” said Flores, who sits on the district’s facilities committee that meets monthly to discuss any concerns and future projects at any of the school sites.
The GHS stadium, along with its bleachers and turf track, have been “ongoing concerns” and were discussed by committee members several times this year, she added.
McAuliffe, who performed a walk-through with a parent group, issued an assessment of the stadium facilities during a meeting in May and was authorized by the district to bring in an outside company for an inspection.
Once they received the report, Flores said the staff immediately started brainstorming alternative locations and concluded the quad area was the best possible location.
“It was so successful that people are now talking about holding all our graduations there,” said Flores, adding that parents enjoyed the “much more intimate setting” in Centennial Circle, which allowed for spectators to be in closer proximity to the graduates than inside the stadium. “There has just been overwhelming positive feedback.”
“I’ve heard really great reviews,” added GHS Athletic Director Julie Berggren, who helped set up about 3,000 white chairs in the quad area. “It looks like a really giant concert in the park.”
Solorsano principal Maria Walker said the change in venue was well received by parents and family members who enjoyed the area, which is dotted with trees that provide shade. It also made for better acoustics during the speeches.
“It felt like a true community, a Solorsano community,” said Walker, who is in her second year as principal at the middle school and 25th year with GUSD. “It’s a beautiful venue.”
Solorsano had 366 students participate in its promotion ceremony at GHS.
“I liked it better than in the stadium,” said Walker, praising the efforts of the district staff, particularly Flores who rushed to rent thousands of fold-out chairs for all in attendance. “The whole district really came together (to make the event run smoothly).”
More campus renovations in the pipeline
As for the bleachers, Duquette Engineering has a $6,500 proposal – listed as a consent item on tonight’s Board of Education meeting – consisting of “preparing a formal repair plan and details for the existing bleachers.”
Surveyors will draw up structural renderings detailing the modifications, the repairs and the new steps,” according to the proposal.
“The bleachers are in pretty good shape,” assessed McAuliffe. “It’s not that the bleachers are not repairable.”
If the scope of work doesn’t call for any additional approval from the Division of State Architect, repairs can be completed “before football season.”
Duquette’s initial review suggests it is only a repair job – one that would not need further DSA approval.
If that’s the case and only the bleachers need to be completely renovated, Flores said the funds will come from Measure P, the $150 million general obligation bond for school improvements passed by voters in November 2008.
The repairs would include a survey of the bleacher’s bolting and bracing systems for better, safer support; and removal of the current stairs to be replaced with a new, solid concrete set of steps to “eliminate the life safety issues.”
GUSD hopes to begin work on the bleachers alongside Phase II of an $11.3 million facelift for the school that began last year. Approximately $5 million of those renovations and upgrades were completed in summer of 2012, including Centennial Circle – previously referred to as “Lake Gilroy” because the once sloping, grassy bowl in the heart of campus turned into a muddy pig sty during winter.
Phase II of construction entails alarm upgrades; roof repairs; theater renovations; sound attenuation in the student center; a multi-use athletics room and classroom upgrades.
