More athletic facilities construction slated for San Mateo district high schools

The auxiliary gym was approved this past May.

Aragon High School will revamp its baseball field to make better use of the space, but the biggest project will be a new gym complex at Burlingame High School.

The Burlingame plan is the most ambitious. The main and auxiliary gyms were updated about a decade ago, but a new, two-story complex, with a footprint of nearly 37,500 square feet and costing nearly $41 million, is scheduled to begin in May 2023, with a completion date of December 2024.

“There is clearly a great deal of excitement and anticipation around the project,” Burlingame athletic director John Philipopoulos said during a Board of Trustees meeting June 23. “This is a one-time opportunity. We wanted to make sure we got this right. It is a building that is going to be in existence for the next hundred years. We want to make sure that the future needs of Panthers are being met.

“Our school is very athletically oriented. … Our community takes a lot of pride … in the athletic department.”

Not only will two regulation basketball gyms be built, but will also feature volleyball and badminton court striping. In addition, a new wrestling room, fitness center, training and team rooms, and new locker facilities will also be included.

The plans at Aragon and San Mateo may not be as big as the Burlingame gym plan, but are definite upgrades. For San Mateo High School, the need for more athletic facilities is greater as the district shares the main school gym with the city of San Mateo.

San Mateo athletic director Jeff Scheller said the city has been accommodating for the school’s needs, but with an increase of school usage, the city simply needs more time with the gym and updated athletic facilities.

“The city has been great working with us (on usage), but technically, the city takes precedent,” Scheller said.

Scheller said the school has first priority during the school day during the school year, but the city of San Mateo gets dibs after 6 p.m. and during the summer. There is already an auxiliary gym on campus, but Scheller said that gym’s usage is limited at this point.

“It’s still functional. It still works. Basketball and volleyball teams still use (the auxiliary gym),” Scheller said.

But the lack of sufficient classroom space and locker facilities is the greatest need and the new auxiliary gym would address those issues.

Before the new gym project can start, however, Scheller said the district decided to first move the tennis courts — two of which will be lighted — which occupy the space where the new gym will be built.

The plan is to move the tennis courts behind the left-field fence of the school’s baseball field. That, in turn, necessitates an adjustment to the baseball facilities. Currently, the space is occupied by batting cages and a small practice area.

The batting cages will be relocated down the first-base line of the baseball field.

Both the softball field and the baseball field will also include new safety improvements, the construction of new bullpens, a new scoreboard for the softball field and perimeter fencing around the entire complex.

“As of now, [the baseball and softball fields] turn into dog parks,” Scheller said.

A new, artificial turf practice area will also be constructed to allow for more varied school sports practices.

“Our (school) site probably has the least among of field space,” Sheller said.

Construction of the new tennis courts are scheduled to begin in February 2023 and work on the baseball and softball fields to start next summer. The entire project is scheduled to finish early in the 2023 school year with a budget of nearly $3.5 million.

Aragon has one of the more eccentric baseball fields in the Peninsula Athletic League, one that features a sunken diamond. In its current setup, fans sit above the field. There are currently a small set of bleachers along a path that runs by the school’s tennis courts and many fans simply bring their own chairs and sit along the school’s perimeter road.

The natural grass field itself has been subject to flooding over the years and the outfield area has served as an auxiliary practice field for various sports, which can tear up the field prior to the baseball season.

“It’s super exciting that we’re finally going to get this done,” said Aragon athletic director Steve Sell, who said this project has been on the table for at least 10 years, but kept getting pushed off.

The project calls for the installation of artificial turf and lights on the baseball field, as well as seating down near the field itself.

“The crazy thing about this project is how much they’re going to raise the level of the field,” Sell said, adding he’s heard that the field could be raised from 4 to 10 feet.

“It’s significant.”

The cost for the projected is estimated at nearly $6.5 million. The work is scheduled to start in late May 2023, with an estimated completion date of early 2024.