Published September 5, 2024
BY AVERY PALSHAW
While changes arise at Carmel High School at the start of every school year, this year’s most noticeable one by far is the construction of the football stadium’s new storage facility and student section platform as well as additional parking lots on the backside of campus, all of which will continue to affect parking, football games and campus accessibility during the school day.
Construction workers tackle the job of the storage facility throughout the school day. (photo by AVERY PALSHAW)
The platform and storage facility, started around mid-July and anticipated to be completed by the end of the fall semester, will be used to hold the CHS pep band or any activity that can be utilized during games, while the storage space below will replace the large Conex boxes by the athletic field.
On the southeast side of campus, two smaller parking lots are getting prepared for use, one of which is already completed and contains 17 parking spaces.
On the backside of Carmel High School, a 17-spot parking lot has been completed, while another is in the works. (photo by AVERY PALSHAW)
Prior to the 2023-24 school year, the ring road that circles the backside of the high school was closed off to students for safety reasons, but became open to them last spring as a temporary solution to limited parking. Because the new lots are located on the ring road, CHS administrators say that they are still trying to determine whether these lots will be meant for student use or staff use only.
“Once this parking mitigation is open, [the parking lot] will be primarily for staff,” says assistant principal Ernesto Pacleb. “We’re going to try to have more spots for staff available around the ring road to leave more open parking spaces for students in the front of the school.”
With the ongoing construction, the CHS football team will be making some adjustments to their season, including hosting the annual Shoe Game and Homecoming game at the Monterey Peninsula College football stadium. Though this may not seem like a convenience, it will give students the opportunity to experience night football games as kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m. for each game. As for typical home football games, fans are still able to park at Carmel Middle School and take a shuttle system to and from the high school.
The CHS ring road will remain closed off to students for likely the remainder of the fall semester for safety precautions. (photo by AVERY PALSHAW)
Ultimately, the end goal of these various projects is to create more parking space for staff, students and CHS visitors in order to be able to utilize the stadium lights erected in fall 2023 to host nighttime sporting events that will draw in larger crowds.
According to Pacleb, the recently installed stadium lights can most likely be utilized for practice purposes this year, only after CHS administrators receive approval from the maintenance, operations and transportation department.
“We’re trying to make sure we can finalize that,” says Pacleb. “It would be a real win for [the school] so we aren’t forcing people to go park down at the middle school instead.”
While construction takes place, the ring road will be closed off to students and parents in order to mitigate safety concerns, meaning it will likely remain closed at least until the end of this calendar year.
