TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A $480 million school bond was passed in November 2023 by voters to make repairs and upgrades at schools within the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) and Pueblo High School (PHS) on the Southside is wondering when their football field will be renovated with those funds.
PHS alumnus and now football Head Coach Sly Lewis says Lou Farber Field is pretty rugged and has some divots that pose a risk of injury, so he took his concerns to the TUSD board meeting.
“There’s money allocated for it, so we would like to see if those projects can go to the front line," Coach Lewis requested.
Coach Lewis says the school has been in need of a new multipurpose field for years and he wants to know how much longer students will have to wait.
“You can see there’s some dirt patches and things of that nature. It’s a little rough. You know some injuries have occurred on this field over the years," Coach Lewis stated.
Sadie Shaw, TUSD board member acknowledged Coach Lewis’ concern.
“I was really happy that he came to tell us what his students go through, but it was also unfortunate because Pueblo has been asking for a new field for a long time. In my first couple years I was trying to get us to use the COVID relief grants for that and I was told it would happen. Unfortunately it didn't,” said Shaw.
She says they deserve a field as good as Tucson High.
"If you drive by it, it looks really pristine. We need to have each of our high schools to have the same type of facilities," Shaw continued.
Coach Lewis agrees as he says a multipurpose field would be beneficial for not just student athletes, but the entire school.
"Number one thing would be enrollment. Today kids like brand new upgraded facilities, so that would be something we could have, enrollment and also sustain enrollment," Coach Lewis said. "You know, kids leaving to other schools because they may want to play on a turf field or have an upgraded facility so they can enhance their sports future."
Shaw did request this item be moved up on the docket for the Bond Oversight Committee to address.
“It’s not fair for Pueblo to have, you know, a field that has tufts of grass or holes because it is a liability, students have been injured and I don’t want that to keep happening," Shaw said.
According to Ricky Hernández, TUSD Chief Financial Officer (CFO), safety projects are taking precedence before any updates to fields.
"The two biggest priorities that really jumped up were HVAC, right? Air conditioning, that was the top of the priority list. And then school safety improvements, so a lot of fencing," Hernández said. "As well as other school safety enhancements, like the security film that's going to go up in all the windows out of all the elementary schools, but we have had other projects that have come into place that are related to infrastructure. We've improved some domestic water lines over at Rincon High School, for example, and we've done some minor kind of fine arts improvements."
One item on the docket that is also getting fulfilled is field lighting, which Coach Lewis is thankful for.
"It's going to be an LED lighting, which will be synchronized with music. So we're super excited, Coach Santa Cruz Stadium. You know, that would be something, a nice field to go with that beautiful lighting. I think it would be really cool to feature for student athletes," Coach Lewis said.
He adds that a turf field would be a little safer and easier to maintain.
But Hernández says switching to an artificial turf field is not the focus of this bond program, more so from a financial perspective.
He said it's about a $2 to $3 million price tag per field to replace it from natural to artificial turf, and for seven high schools, it would be a significant amount this bond program cannot accommodate.
“It’s to try to do a repair, kind of an upgrade I guess if you will, of the existing landscape, and not really to replace it with artificial turf," Hernández said.
He said it would be to stabilize the problems brought up, such as the divots, that are injuring players.
Hernández says the Bond Oversight Committee will be looking over this project in the spring and hopefully can get the ball rolling on repairs this fall if the TUSD Governing Board approves.
"We've heard the messages loud and clear from the community, and we're definitely looking forward to working with the bond program at Pueblo High School as much as possible now that we're definitely well beyond the first year of doing some of those, kind of urgent, critical needs," Hernández said.
Coach Lewis says he's enjoying his time as coach at PHS and is excited to build for the future alongside TUSD.
"Gracious to TUSD and all their doing with all the upgrades of facilities and we're looking forward to the season," Coach Lewis said. "I have nothing but respect for everybody on the panel and board and all the things they do behind the scenes."
The next Bond Oversight Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, March 20 at 1 p.m. at the Duffy Community Center.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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