School board approves bid to begin construction on new dugouts at high school baseball and softball stadiums
LINDSAY – The dugouts at the Lindsay High School (LHS) baseball and softball stadiums are older than some of the faculty in the building, but a total makeover is in the works. At their Aug. 23 meeting, the Lindsay Unified School District (LUSD) approved a bid for the construction of new baseball and softball dugouts at LHS.
The board unanimously approved the formal bid for the new dugouts in the amount of $379,900 to Dale Atkins, a Visalia based contractor. The old dugouts will be torn down soon and the new ones are expected to be completed by mid-January, in time for the upcoming baseball and softball seasons in spring.
Brett Kindig, head coach of the baseball team, says that he was able to provide input on what the new dugouts should look like which will have a more modernized look and add features that the current dugouts are lacking. They will be enclosed dugouts to protect from weather conditions with a lot more room inside for the teams to maneuver during games and store equipment. The district will also be upgrading the scoreboards at the baseball and softball fields.
Kindig has been coaching baseball and softball at LHS for over 30 years and says that the dugouts preceded his tenure at the school.
“We’ve had a strong program for many years so I think our kids are deserving of having a quality facility all the way around,” he said. “Dugouts don’t win baseball games but this will make us feel a little prouder about the field that we play on.”
According to Merced Doria, director of facilities at LUSD, the district has made it a priority to upgrade various sports facilities at the high school. They’ve put in extra effort over the last few years to improve the grounds at the fields to ensure they are well-kept and new dugouts are next on the list of priorities. Future projects that the district is considering include adding lighting around the track and upgrades to the lights at the football field.
