Marina High School athletes will soon no longer have to practice in the dark. Six years since the last facilities bond was passed for the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, the school’s field and stadium project is making progress with new stadium lights being installed Thursday.

The $12 million improvement project is funded by Measure I, a $213 million school facilities bond voters approved in 2018. The project broke ground this spring and is focused on installing new lights, bleachers, scoreboards and a sound booth system among other improvements.

“The neighbors really embraced the project and saw it as a benefit to the community,” said Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh. “We’ve been able to move much more quickly on this project than the Monterey High project … now it’s coming to fruition and we’re very excited.”

In 2019, a similar $12 million stadium improvement project was proposed at Monterey High. Following environmental and accountability concerns by community members, multiple lawsuits halted progress on the project.

Late last year, the final lawsuit was dismissed and the courts ruled in the district’s favor. “Now we’re able to move forward,” said Diffenbaugh. “In Monterey, the lights are up and the project is continuing so we’re excited about that as well.”

In addition to the stadium lights, Phase One of the project will include creating baseball dugouts, a multi-use turf field and redoing the parking lot and entrance to the school for safer drop-offs.

Diffenbaugh anticipates these priority repairs will be completed before the beginning of the 2025-26 school year.

“There’s a huge buzz, not just with coaches and students, but the entire community,” he said. When Diffenbaugh joined the district around 10 years ago, community members told him they saw Marina High as a “pretend school.” Being built on an elementary school campus, the school was small and did not have many amenities.

“The community was really frustrated because they felt the district had opened a high school but not invested the resources into creating a comprehensive high school,” said Diffenbaugh.

Since then, Monterey Peninsula Unified has invested into building a gym, medical and culinary classrooms, a science laboratory and new library at the school site.

Finishing up the stadium “really is one of the final pieces to make the school closer to a full comprehensive high school, which was the goal of the community,” he said.

A smaller school than some of its district counterparts, Marina High has about 700 students enrolled.

In comparison, Monterey and Seaside High have around 1,400 and 1,000 students, respectively.

“(Marina High) now has a lot of the amenities that a bigger school would have and has a true identity as a high school,” said Diffenbaugh.

The district has put another school facilities bond, $340 million Measure A, on next month’s ballot. The measure needs 55% voter approval to pass.

While Phase One of the stadium has a projected completion date, Phase Two is still up in the air. Other projects including a snack bar, squash ball court and sand volleyball pit will have to wait “until the hopeful passing of Measure A,” according to Diffenbaugh.

“We’re proud of our progress but we are also hopeful the voters will pass Measure A so we can continue this transformation,” said Diffenbaugh. “Not just at Marina High but at all of our campuses across the district.”