Construction is underway at three SMUHSD schools

The former gym was upgraded in 2010, with the basketball floor being shifted to accommodate a new gym lobby and concession stands. But it meant only one side of the gym had a full set of bleachers.

This project will be a whole new building to house two basketball courts with volleyball and badminton lines. A new wrestling room and fitness center will be added, along with team rooms and locker facilities for PE classes.

The building was gutted by the end of June and was finished being taken down just this week.

“I showed up this week and the gym was demolished,” said Burlingame athletic director John Philipopoulos. “They took it down in sections.”

While the gym facility was in use until the final day of the school year, Philipopoulos said the moving out process started after the basketball season.

“When you’re an old-timer like me, you don’t understand how much stuff you have. It forces you to go through your stuff, which takes time, too,” Philipopoulos said. “I asked, ‘Why are we moving stuff? Can’t we just [demolish] it?’ We can’t.

“There are so many things you don’t think about, like all the banners hanging in the gym. Getting them down and getting them packed away. What’s going to long-term storage? What’s going to short-term storage? It was stressful as hell, to be honest.”

Philipopoulos said he has already made accommodations for the school’s volleyball teams this fall, while the tennis team will lose one of eight courts to portables — which will serve as office space, as well as changing rooms for both male and female student-athletes.

San Mateo High School will not only be upgrading its softball and baseball fields, the school is installing new tennis courts with a new secondary gym being the featured element of the construction.

“The tennis courts are pretty much done. Just putting the finishing touches on them,” said San Mateo athletic director Jeff Scheller. “Then, we’re doing the baseball and softball modifications.”

The start of the gym construction, however, has been delayed a few weeks as modifications to the original plans have been made.

Despite the main gym on campus being opened in 2002, it simply does not have the space to accommodate all that goes into an athletics program and because it is controlled by the city after-school hours, the school itself does not have unlimited access to the facilities.

This secondary gym will provide more room for the entire athletic department. Scheller said the new gym will not only feature a full-sized basketball court with limited seating, but it will also house the athletic trainer, making her more accessible around campus.

“And we’ll have real athletic locker rooms,” Scheller said. As things currently stand, there are a pair of team rooms off the main gym that serve basketball and volleyball teams. The football locker room is the furthest room away from the field and stadium and is small and cramped.

“Football has a galley-style team room. Eighty lockers stacked on top of one another,” Scheller said.

Scheller said he doesn’t expect the construction to have much of an impact on classes.

“Just the dust and noise will be the extent of it,” Scheller said, adding that a majority of the classrooms are on the other side of campus.

“Most of the classes are far away from [the project site].”

He does envision some parking issues, however. The campus is also home to the SMUHSD offices on one side and the adult school facilities on the other side of campus. Scheller said high school students are not supposed to park in the adult school parking lot, so he can imagine parking getting a little more crowded on the streets surrounding the school.

“It will probably impact the neighborhood as [more students] will be looking for spots,” Scheller said.

Meanwhile, across town at Aragon, there are three projects going on simultaneously. The sexy ones are an upgrade of the baseball field and a revamping of the pool facilities.

The baseball field is supposed to be ready for the start of the 2024 season, but Aragon athletic director Steve Sell knows that is just a tentative date.

“With these projects, anything could delay it. … It’s too early to know if we’re on time for the start of baseball,” Sell said. “Our site is kind of tricky. We’re built into the side of a hill. What is present at Mills and Cap might not be exactly what we have here.”

The pool facility, which is about 15 years old, is getting new plaster and lights are being installed, as well, Sell said.

The final project, while not as exciting, is certainly more necessary. Sell said asbestos work is being done on the gym. When the gyms of Aragon, Hillsdale and Mills were constructed — what Sell referred to as “iron gyms” — asbestos was part of the construction process.

“It has to be encapsulated,” Sell said. “It’s a big job. Last summer, they did the outside and this summer they’re doing the inside. … Having the walls encapsulated is not as exciting as a new field.”

Sell said he doesn’t expect the pool and gym work to be done by the time practice starts next month. Part of the problem is just the scope and uncertainty of construction timelines. The other issue is that practices for fall sports and the start of the 2023-24 school year is as early as ever. Sell said practices can begin Aug. 4 and classes at the district school start Aug. 16.

“This is about as early a start date we’ve had,” Sell said. “I’m more worried about the pool and gym (being ready than the baseball field).”

As such, Sell and the other athletic directors in the district have been working with each other on contingency plans. Not only does Aragon have to find space for the start of water polo and volleyball seasons, Burlingame will have to move all its games and practices to other sites as all the school currently has is the stadium field. It’ll take some juggling to accommodate all the moving parts, but Sell said it certainly helps to have colleagues who are used to working together.

“In all honesty, it’s really great the six [athletic directors] in our district all get along and support each other,” Sell said. “That’s a saving grace is that we all say, ‘Come on (we’ll get it done).’ We’re very cooperative about sharing space.”