I would like to respond to the guest view regarding the PLHS stadium lights [“Anti-stadium lights campaign sending the wrong message,” Oct. 17 Beacon, Page 5]. I, too, was born and raised in San Diego and am an alumni of Point Loma High School, class of 1973. I am also one of seven children who all attended PLHS. My mother, aunt, uncles, nieces and nephew all attended PLHS. Our two daughters attended and our youngest is a senior this year. Virtually every decade since the 1940s, there has been a member of my family attending PLHS. I live in the house my parents built in 1950, which is located one block from the school. It’s with this experience that I feel I can weigh in on this issue, as did Brandt Truver in your last edition.
I enjoy living next to the school. The sights and sounds of the school, students and activities are part of my childhood memory and I find it familiar and comforting today. Coach whistles, cheerleaders cheering and the band playing are part of this neighborhood and just one of the reasons we enjoy living here. We’ve never had a problem with any of the students or daytime school activities. Having said this, I am against plans for permanent stadium lights. A few years ago, PLHS started renting lights for the Homecoming game at night, which created problems with the traffic and activities outside of the stadium. Our streets are narrow and dark with people milling around; some drinking alcohol, littering, trespassing and sometimes urinating in our yards. Because it only happens once a year, we have been putting up with it, but we know if the lights are there permanently it will become a much more frequent problem. Mr. Truver’s suggestion that we raise funds to hire more security is unrealistic and unreasonable. Security is the responsibility of the school and San Diego Police Department and the stadium will be used more frequently and by other organizations, as well. The Rock Church Academy is interested, as well as Point Loma Nazarene University, Albion soccer and Pop Warner football. The stadium will be used as often as possible in order to offset the cost of making the improvements and raise revenue for the school district, not directly to PLHS. Improving game attendance is cited as one reason for installing lights. Somehow, for 80 years, students and families have been managing to attend games during the day. Enhancing the stadium in order to accommodate sports activities and make it more convenient for students and parents is not enough reason to create a real burden to those of us who live near the school. We are mostly homeowners and are concerned about our property values, as well. Having a busy stadium used by multiple organizations both during the day and at night will definitely have a negative effect on our property values along with our quality of life. The school district is desperate for money and has found a way to raise revenue by transforming high school stadiums into moneymaking commercialized stadiums. Unfortunately, the PLHS stadium is literally in our back yards and cannot be used for this purpose without greatly affecting the lives of those who live nearby. We all knew we were buying houses next to a school, one that did not have stadium lights and was used only for PLHS activities for 80 years. The school is in the middle of a neighborhood and shares property lines with homes. A ticket booth has just been built at the stadium entrance in between two houses on a residential street with only street parking available, creating traffic and parking problems. The plans for the stadium go over and above what the neighborhood can handle.
Our organization [Save Our Neighborhood] does support the school while trying to maintain our quality of life in the neighborhood we love. PLHS has been a good neighbor for many years and hopefully that will continue. Remember, once a Pointer always a Pointer!