PLANADA -- His words echoed in both directions down Plainsburg Road, over the railroad tracks, past the 25-cent beer sign on Highway 140 and around the region.
"Looong overdue," said Planada Elementary School District Superintendent Steve Gomes, just days before shovels meet dirt with a ceremonious thrust.
On Saturday, the PESD will break ground on a new $3.3 million multipurpose room on the campus of Cesar E. Chavez Middle School -- the first of its a scale in this small but proud city of 4,000 or so.
The room -- more like a 12,000-square-foot compound, with kitchen, bathrooms and storage -- will be funded mostly by Measure O money, a 2008 ballot item, and around $400,000 in developing fees collected over the years.
It doesn't look like much now, this lopsided patch of earth at the rear of this modern campus.
A chain-link fence helps create a perimeter along the back edge, quartering off a few basketball courts and a baseball diamond.
Tufts of what appear to be crab grass grow wild, commingling with other vegetation to color this swath in a palette of greens.
Tiny birds peck and poke at the ground where, eventually, tiny feet will run and play.
A sign with an artist's rendering stands in front of it all, visualizing the dream for students, faculty and guests.
But in August, when the paint has dried, the site will be a beacon of hope, a year-round gathering place and source of strength.
"Our vision is that this will become a place, a facility that students and organizations will use after school hours," Gomes said.
"Our hope is that we'll have evening and weekend activities for kids as well as adults. It'll become a place Planada can gather and conduct activities."
To that point, Gomes is right: Long overdue.
When Cesar E. Chavez Middle School was built in 2002, a gymnasium and suitable kitchen weren't worked into the plans.
And so began a grind many in Merced County, and around the country, can relate to: doing more with less, and...
In most cases, doing more with nothing at all.
Currently:
- PE teachers have nowhere to take their classes when the heat and cold become unbearable and unsafe.
- assemblies and rallies are staged in the quad area, and students must lug their own chairs into the yard.
- there's no cafeteria, and a kitchen that whips together about 1,000 meals a day was built to accommodate fewer than half that number.
"Our cafeteria manager can't wait to get a new kitchen," Gomes said. "Right now, they're stepping all over each other."
An offshoot benefit: this facility, particularly the gymnasium, will create a bridge to Le Grand High athletics.
Not that a pipeline didn't already exist. To those who don't inhabit this rural part of the County, I'll let you in on a well-kept secret:
The Le Grand High athletic program, the bearer of numerous section titles, is powered by Planada.
The city's role is often overlooked or understated, but the annals of Le Grand's record book are lined with Planada profiles.
There's current professional basketball player Adrian Sanchez, whose talents have made him an all-star in Mexico.
Mike Florez Sr. was a football standout in the 1960s, who went onto star at Merced College and Fresno State.
Before Dr. Benjamin Duran was president of Merced College, he was an all-sports athlete at LG.
John Chavez, 73, won a baseball scholarship to Arizona State, then spent his life here as an educator: teacher, principal and superintendent.
Some consider Ben Sanchez, a track star at Fresno Pacific and athletic director at Planada Elementary, the face of Planada athletics.
Most of the current Le Grand coaching staff collects mail in Planada: Rick Martinez (football), Raul Alvarez (boys basketball) and Aaron Martinez (baseball).
And, according to LG athletic director Frank Ferreira, the number of current athletes from Planada dwarfs those from Le Grand and Plainsburg.
"It's pretty obvious where the athletes come from," Ferreira said. "Le Grand is the high school in name, but we live in an extended community."
The multipurpose room not only enhances the educational mission of the district, but reinforces the power and possibilities of athletics in this small town.
Kids will have a place to shoot jumpshots or slam volleyballs without fear of rain or 100-degree heat.
Kids will have a place to work as a team. Express themselves. Escape. And seek shelter, in more ways than one.
It also creates a satellite facility for Le Grand High. Imagine practices and exhibition games played in Planada? Or a place where kids, young and old, can go to be fans?
"I know if you get younger kids watching high school practices, or if they're just around it, it builds that transition," Gomes said. "It builds that momentum, if you will.
"Once you get that tradition going, it self-perpetuates.
"Le Grand doesn't have to be that place nine miles away; just down the road."
It will be a multipurpose room with untold potential. To that Gomes says, "Looong overdue."
I'll modify that with only a word: Indeed.
James Burns is sports editor of the Sun-Star. He can be reached at jburns@mercedsun-star.com.>
E-Mail
Print
