Alameda High Athletic Field Plan Opens for Public Review
AUSD wants to build a full track and field complex on the old Lum Elementary campus, and it's asking neighbors to weigh in before the environmental review wraps up this fall.
By The Alameda Pulse
Alameda Unified School District is planning a new athletic field for Alameda High at the closed Lum Elementary campus, with a 400-meter track and bleachers for up to 1,500 people, and it's now running the environmental review the project needs before anyone can break ground.
- What: A multi-sport field, a 400-meter all-weather track, and bleachers seating 1,000 to 1,500 people
- Where: The former Lum Elementary School campus in Alameda
- Cost driver: Funded through AUSD's Measure B construction bond
- Who's behind it: Alameda Unified School District
- What's next: A public comment period and school board hearing expected this fall, with final environmental approval to follow
What is AUSD planning to build at the old Lum Elementary site?
The plan, laid out on the district's Alameda High School Athletic Field project page, calls for a full athletic complex: a multi-sport field, a 400-meter all-weather track, separate areas for field events like long jump and shot put, and bleachers with an announcer's box built to seat 1,000 to 1,500 people and meet ADA accessibility standards. The design also adds LED field lighting, a sound system, a new access road, and a parking area. It's part of the Measure B bond program that's already rebuilding several AUSD campuses.
Why do neighbors have concerns about the project?
AUSD says directly on its own project page that "some residents in the area have concerns about noise, lights, and traffic related to the proposed project," and the district's environmental review is built around answering those concerns. That review will include separate technical studies from sound, light, and traffic experts, along with strategies for avoiding or reducing any impacts those studies find. The district has already held three public meetings on the project this year: a pre-review information session in March, a community workshop in May, and a formal scoping meeting in July, when it distributed a Notice of Preparation to neighbors to formally kick off the environmental study.
What happens to the Lum Elementary campus in the meantime?
The site isn't sitting empty while the review plays out. Otis Elementary is using the former Lum campus as its temporary home through 2028 while its own permanent campus goes through a separate two-year rebuild. That means construction on the new athletic field can't start until Otis moves back to its rebuilt site.
What happens next for Alameda families?
AUSD expects a 30-day public comment period and a school board hearing this late summer into fall, with final environmental approval targeted for later this year. Actual construction on the field wouldn't begin until after 2028, once Otis Elementary vacates the site. Residents with questions or feedback can reach the district's construction office at construction@alamedaunified.org. For more on what's shaping local schools, see the Pulse's education coverage.
