Field Trip to Peabody Stadium

After many months of trying, the Providence Engineering Academy was finally able to secure a field trip to see... well, a field! Peabody Stadium, an integral part of the sporting complex at Santa Barbara High School for almost 100 years, has been greatly in need of renewal for a range of reasons—regular flooding, surface maintenance, seating capability, ADA compliance—and our engineering students were given a sneak peek at the behind-the-scenes process!

Our own neighborhood! Peabody Stadium (old image) to the
upper left, and Providence School to the lower right

A quick walk across Canon Perdido Street brought the group to the construction trailers, where Mat Gradias from Kruger Bensen Ziemer Architects, Inc. met them and introduced them to some members of the construction and design team. Mat has been involved with the Santa Barbara ACE Mentor Program, which several of our students (Eva, Victor, and Seung) have attended for the past two years.

Mat showed the construction plans, and described to the group some of the challenges facing the team, from sourcing grants to managing city wastewater ducts to preserving the "look and feel" of the local neighborhood. The team's original completion date was April 2019, but is now projected for the middle of August.

Josh, Gabe, Victor, Ben, Todd, Colby, Eva, Alena, Claire, and
Madison facing north; behind is the new southern grandstand

There's a lot of mud and dust right now, but over the next few weeks there'll be seeing bright green artificial turf laid out. Regular flooding issues will be a thing of the past, with clever water management systems in the event of severe rainfall. Seating capacity will be greatly improved, and highly directional lighting and sound seeks to minimize light and noise pollution for the surrounding areas. The state-of-the-art track surface will be the only one of its kind for a hundred miles—a type of high-tech material that is known for producing world records.

The Engineering Academy was very grateful to Mat and the other presenters, and they're already excited to see the finished product!