Palisades High baseball coach Mike Voelkel, who is in his 18th season, said he’s been promised a new field after bulldozers did what they do best — removed anything remaining of the Palisades baseball field two weeks ago.
It just won’t be him coaching, because he’ll be long retired when a new field is built. The Los Angeles Unified School District is estimating 2029 when a new field will be completed, but everyone knows LAUSD estimates to finish building something are rarely accurate.
LAUSD will be putting temporary bungalow classrooms on the space to help the school rebuild from the Palisades fire. The rapid leveling of the field happened despite some wanting an alternative plan. The school had bungalows before the fire but they were destroyed. Suddenly the field became the lead option.
Here’s the statement from an LAUSD spokesperson: “There were 21 classrooms destroyed in the fire that were housed in both permanent and portable buildings. Temporary portable classrooms have been placed on the baseball field and will be utilized until permanent structures are erected — which is expected to be complete in Q4-2028. At that time the portable classrooms on the baseball field will be removed and the baseball field will be reconstructed, which is anticipated to be completed in 2029.”
This season the baseball team has been traveling to various sites for games and practices because the campus is closed. No plan has been announced for what they will do next year. Not having a field will not encourage baseball players to stick around at a school holding classes at the old Sears building in Santa Monica.
For alumni, the destruction of the field is disturbing. Millions of dollars were invested for improvements, including netting, fencing, pitching machines and batting cages. Rick Poulos, who had two sons play baseball at Palisades, said he helped put in “very expensive protective poles and netting.”
All gone.
“It is an integral part of the community,” he said.
Darryl Strawberry once hit a ball onto Sunset Boulevard during his playing days at Crenshaw High.
The whole Western League is facing a challenge with four of the seven schools having no baseball fields. Only Venice, Fairfax and Westchester have playable fields on campus at the moment.
Voelkel got one last look at his field when he was escorted to check out things in his office before the bulldozers cleared everything.
“I think I can go to heaven with my head held high with the blood, sweat and tears put into that field,” he said.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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