Instead of craning their necks for a better view or standing on their sore feet for hours, students will be able to enjoy brand new bleachers while they watch football games next year, Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson said on Friday. He added that the changes to the bleachers are part of a bond measure passed by Palo Altan voters in June 2008.

“More seats will allow better viewing, keep people off the track, and consequently, keep the track clean,” Berkson said. “We’ll begin construction after this year’s football season.”

The football field bleachers make up just one of many renovation projects planned for the Paly campus. Construction workers are also flattening and removing the dirt and grass from the El Camino field to put in synthetic turf for an all-weather soccer and lacrosse field.

“Last year, we had a lot of problems with the rain because it created tons of mud puddles and with ground balls because it [the field] was so hilly,” junior lacrosse player Rachel Shaffer said. “However, that always gave us a home field advantage because nobody else was used to playing on that crappy of a field,” she added with a smile.

Additionally, the Black Box Theater, previously used for former history teacher Mike McGovern’s famous re-enactments, will be renovated so that half of it can be used for an InFocus Studio, and the other half for other classes.

“The project has been derailed temporarily because the fire marshal just came in and said it was not legally safe,” Berkson said. He explained that in addition to an exit door that’s blocked by a wall, there are dangerously flammable objects in the room and things that are not seismically mounted.

“These issues are being fixed as we speak and will probably be resolved within a day or two,” Berkson said.

When completed, the new studio will benefit InFocus tremendously. “It provides more space for students to work with and pulls them closer to the center of the school,” Berkson said. “It’s also right around the corner from [English teacher Mike] McNulty’s classroom, so they’ll be able to plan, organize, and produce all in one central area.”

Other short-term projects include remodeling the robotics lab to meet California building safety standards, constructing a four-way traffic light in the Paly parking lot exit to reduce traffic, and repainting the big gym’s foyer to create an amiable place for displaying trophies. These will all be completed by November, if not sooner, according to Berkson.