Shade structures discussed for Rowe field bleachers

Karen Billing

Rancho Santa Fe School District Superintendent Lindy Delaney is trying to bring a little shade to R. Roger Rowe School’s sun-drenched playing field bleachers.

“It gets rather hot up there with the artificial turf,” Delaney said.

The Rancho Santa Fe School board reviewed one plan for potential shade structures but passed on it for being too expensive at $82,544.

The school’s architect, Debbie Vaughn-Cleff, said the site faces some challenges with engineering, having to “squeeze” in the poles for the shade canopy as they can’t be too close to the track for safety purposes. She advised against going through with the plan presented at last week’s meeting for being too costly.

Board Vice President Richard Burdge said it seemed like a “huge amount of money” to spend to cover bleachers for games that often last just an hour.

Delaney agreed that the plan was too expensive and said she would continue to look for more options, such as covering just one bleacher. “We need to cover them at some point somehow,” Delaney said.