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Renovation of Lincoln's sports fields enters phase 2 with yearlong closure

By Mary Gottschalk

The playing fields at Lincoln High School may be fenced off from all use for more than a year this spring during the second phase of renovation work, but the closure means good news for athletic groups. Both the girls junior varsity softball and the golf team will have places to practice on campus for the first time when the upgraded fields open. Teams that now must go to Hoover Middle School to practice will be able to return to campus.

Kevin Collins, athletic director at Lincoln, says the new fields will free up coaches to spend more time coaching and less time trying to make fields usable.

The second phase of renovating the athletic fields at Lincoln High School will begin May 1, with completion expected by the opening of the school's fall semester in 2008.

The fields adjacent to and behind the main buildings along Dana and Hester avenues will be resurfaced, regraded and replanted, with new irrigation installed.

When completed, the fields will have a dedicated baseball diamond and a dedicated softball diamond with bullpens, dugouts, bleachers, batting cages and scoreboards.

Additionally, there will be a soccer field and a golf range.

Funding comes from Measure F, which voters passed in March 2002 to repair the aging campuses of the San Jose Unified School District.

Renovation of the stadium at Lincoln is already complete. Finished in September 2004, it has an all-weather track, sport turf, new scoreboard, new sound system, a track timing system, a wider football field to accommodate soccer matches and additional bleachers that increased seating to 2,500.

The addition of the new soccer field will allow for both the varsity and junior varsity teams to play at the same time.