The new multi-use field project is on hold until June 2010, according to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson.

“The baseball field will be put off until next June, after next year’s baseball season is over,” Berkson said.

All plans for Paly construction have to go through the Division of the State Architect, which has been holding up the multi-use field project with slower turnover times with the plans, according to Paly Principal, Jacqueline McEvoy.

“It [the DSA] usually takes six months for approval [of plans], now it’s taking longer,” McEvoy said.

According to McEvoy, the multi-use field project had to be postponed because it could not be completed in time for the 2010 baseball season. The extended time to gain DSA approval and Paly’s athletic needs also affected this decision

“We have to consider, when we get stuff back from the state [DSA], what sports we have to support,” McEvoy said. “We have limited field space.”

In addition, the multi-use field is not going to be artificial turf, which will also cause time delay. According to McEvoy, a grass field takes longer to grow, and sod is unappealing because grass grows better from seed.

In a February meeting with performing arts students, McEvoy said that the multi-use field construction was to begin in June 2009.

Despite issues with the other field project, plans to redo the Paly field that faces El Camino Real are moving forward and should be completed before the multi-use field, according to Berkson.

“The El Camino Field is on schedule,” Berkson said. “It is on schedule and below budget. Not only that, but we got all the extras we wanted, like the lighting, the water, etc.”

According to McEvoy, the Paly construction project might not require some of the fundraising that was planned.

“The bid climate right now is in our favor,” McEvoy said. “Bids have been coming in a lot lower than we anticipated.”

Paly’s extensive renovation plans are otherwise unaffected by the recent changes in the plans for the multi-use field, according to Berkson.

“That [the multi-use field] is a separate project,” Berkson said. “It won’t affect the rest of the rebuilding.”