Los Lunas High School stadium upgrade includes new entrance, concessions

LOS LUNAS — While viewers of HGTV may be curious about what is going on at Los Lunas High School’s football/track stadium, they should note this renovation is not about being fancy but functional.

“We felt due to the age of our facility it was time for an upgrade to make sure we’re meeting the needs of our growing community,” said Tiffany McMinn, Los Lunas Schools director of maintenance and construction. “We’re kind of busting out of the seams.”

Crews are in the middle of several projects at the stadium, with the most immediate focus on a new entrance to the facility.

“Our current entry points are really bottlenecked so we’re creating a more cohesive entrance,” McMinn said, adding that the it’s below the press box on the west end of the stadium.

Up until this point, there has been little direction for fans about where to enter, but that will change.

“It’s going to make it a center point of our facility,” McMinn said. “It will have signage. People will know where to come into our games. It will look like a facility instead of a long fence line,” adding that the entrance will show “Tiger Pride.”

The upgrade should also help when the crowds leave a game. Currently, the space causes congestion when hundreds of fans leave at once.

There is no guaranteed timeline, but the expectation is to have the entrance completed before Aug. 23, the date of the first home football game.

“We hope that it is done by that point just for our family and fan aspect, so they can get where they need to be so they can support us,” said Greg Henington, LLHS head football coach, who says the changes will look “super sharp” when completed.

On the northwest corner of the stadium, the building that housed concessions and restrooms has been torn down to make way for a new, larger facility.

“There’s going to be a little courtyard area,” according to McMinn. “It gives a central point for the concession, a congregating area, making it more accessible.”

It will also have a family restroom.

That project is not expected to be completed until March, leaving only one concession area available this season on the home-team side of the stadium. That building, which houses concessions, restrooms and locker rooms for track, is on the other end of the main bleachers.

According to Los Lunas Schools, phase one of the project costs just under $4 million, paid for by a bond approved by voters.

“We’re looking at doing a master plan for our facilities,” said McMinn, but it will take time. “It’s going to be over the course of years,” as funding becomes available. “We are currently designing phase two, which would replace the track field house, restrooms and concession building that is to the south of the bleachers.”

A separate project for the running track circling the football field is currently underway.

“We’re doing some maintenance and repairs,” McMinn said, “so we get the full length of life to what we have there.”

The work will include restriping the track and placing a coating over the entire surface.

The Los Lunas football team has been doing preseason drills on the grass practice field just north of the stadium. The Tigers will stay off the artificial turf at Willie Chavez Field until the track project is complete. However, the company working on the track has agreed to take a “pause” so the Tiger Youth Camp can be held on the field Thursday and Friday, July 18-19.

“We’re very appreciative with what’s going on, what’s happening at the stadium,” Henington said, thanking the community and Los Lunas Schools administration.

While watching the ongoing effort at the stadium, McMinn said, “When we planned this project, we really considered not only the school district and our students that use the facility every day, but also our community members.” McMinn added, “We wanted to make sure we were providing facilities that were safe, that were meeting the needs of all spectators, including those that do need ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) access to our site.”