Injunction halts plans for Cal's $125M facility
Rusty Simmons, Chronicle Staff Writer
When Chad Nightingale went on his recruiting visit to Cal, he was led into Memorial Stadium. "It was one of the most beautiful facilities I had ever seen," he said. "I remember thinking, 'There may be bigger weight rooms, but nothing can compare to this site.' " But that was more than 20 years ago. Nightingale, who lettered for the Bears in 1988 and '89, has become the head football coach at Salesian High. Meanwhile, few upgrades have been made at his alma mater. Now it appears that current Cal players might have to wait a year or more for new facilities. Plans to retrofit Memorial Stadium and add a $125 million high-performance athletic center were delayed Monday, when a judge issued a preliminary injunction that blocks construction and brings into question the effect the decision will have on the future of head coach Jeff Tedford, who has guided the program's turnaround over the last five years.
"Anybody who's asking those questions is very uneducated to my feelings to Cal and this program," Tedford said. "My commitment is unwavering. My commitment is 100 percent to Cal. I'm not panicking. I'm not fazed by this at all. "I want those statements to be clear to our players, our recruits and anyone else who is wondering." The project is the subject of several lawsuits, claiming nothing should be built so close to the Hayward Fault and trying to protect a grove of oak trees, among other contentions. Cal officials counter, saying their seismic evaluation proves the new facility will enable staff and athletes to move into a safe building and promising to plant three new trees for every one removed. UC attorneys, who have yet to decide whether to seek an appeal, said the injunction could delay the project at least a year. The bigger point of interest for Cal football fans is if the project ever will get under way and how to keep Tedford, who repeatedly has spoken about the importance of facility upgrades. Tedford has agreed to an extension through 2013, but the contract won't be made public until it is approved by the UC Board of Regents. It has been widely speculated that Tedford, who has been sought after by NFL teams and higher-profile colleges, will have outs regarding a lack of facility upgrades in his newest extension. "There's no doubt that this project is terribly important to Jeff's vision of success for this program," Cal athletics director Sandy Barbour said. "He understands, believes and sees the commitment to getting this project done."
She said there is "nothing different in the extension than in the previous contract" regarding the stadium upgrades. In his last contract, Tedford received bonuses for staying with the program as each of the planned phases reached completion and his buyout of the contract became more expensive for each. Tedford, who was on the recruiting trail, admitted that the injunction couldn't have been announced at a worse time. "I mean, we're a week away from signing," he said before quickly recovering, "but there are still positives. "It's a chance for me to say that I'm extremely confident that this project is going forward. This is a temporary setback, but I remain confident that our current recruiting class will be able to utilize and enjoy these new facilities." UC Vice Chancellor Nathan Brostrom said the university will go ahead with the bid process and any possible site preparation that the injunction allows. It does, however, put Tedford in a predicament when answering recruits' questions. "The questions are usually about ground-breaking, and I am honest with them," he said. "It's not going to get started on the timeline we envisioned, but that's not say it won't be finished when we thought."
In comparison to some other national powerhouses, Cal's facilities are sorely lacking. That hasn't stopped Tedford from grabbing receiver/return specialist DeSean Jackson from USC's backyard two years ago and nabbing this season's top-notch local talents such as St. Ignatius High lineman Matt Summers-Gavin and Salesian tailback Jahvid Best, who received a letter Monday that he was one of 58 players named to the Parade All-America team. "UC and its athletics department need, and more importantly, have earned and deserve a new facility," Nightingale said. "The fact is you can solidly stand behind the program and, in particular, coach Tedford. He has won with excellent players, who graduate at an amazing level and go on to represent the university well."
Tedford said that the Bears lose some prospects who have seen other schools' facilities. "Facilities are a huge part of recruiting, and our facilities are old," he said. "The shape of our facilities is nowhere near our competition, and our student-athletes deserve a place to come to everyday that has all the amenities of 2007. "We have fallen behind the times quite a bit." The 142,000-square-foot Barclay Simpson High-Performance Center is supposed to be the solution to that. Along with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities within the building, the center's roof would serve as a 68,000-square-foot plaza, which would be open to ticketed fans on game days and give Cal extra concession opportunities. That hasn't been enough to convince the opposition pushing for the facility to be built at a different location. Brostrom said during the last six or seven years, the university has looked at a number of sites as far away as Albany and none is better than the current plan. "It is the optimum site to preserve the historic nature of the stadium and integrate athletics and studies," he said. The proposed plan would house 13 of the school's 27 sports. "That's a huge point that has been missed by the masses, because they think this is just about what coach Tedford is asking for," Barbour said. "This will positively and directly impact 13 programs on a daily basis, and in many ways, will impact all 900 of our student-athletes." Many of whom are like Nightingale and his running back. "Jahvid has his head in the right place," Nightingale said. "I think he would love to have a beautiful weight room, but he's focused on other things. Academics, the coaching staff and his future teammates made Cal the obvious choice for him."
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