Message from Sandy Barbour

Dear Cal Athletics Supporter:

As part of my commitment to keep supporters of Cal Athletics up to date on developments surrounding our plans to modernize Memorial Stadium and build a new Student-Athlete High Performance Center (SAHPC), I want to share some good news from the legal front.

On Thursday, June 14, the judge presiding over the legal challenges to the project agreed to our request and signaled that she is ready to set a firm trial date for September 19. Although later than we would have preferred, the date is more expeditious than the October and November dates that the judge had been considering.

We are ready, now more than ever, to successfully confront these legal challenges.

As many of you already know, recent seismic testing has proved, beyond any reasonable doubt, that there are no active fault lines under the site for the SAHPC. As a result, we believe that the project is, literally and figuratively, on solid ground.

With the facts firmly on our side, we are eager to have our case heard by an impartial judge and are completely confident that we will prevail. At the same time, pre-construction planning is continuing apace so that we will be ready to hit the ground running as soon as the injunction is lifted.

You should also know that we remain interested in and open to reaching settlement agreements with the plaintiffs. I firmly believe that Berkeley taxpayers and the campus can find better uses for the money that will be spent on litigation. I am also convinced that a majority of Berkeley's residents share our concern for the safety of student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans, as well as our desire to modernize a stadium that is one of the city's great cultural assets and an important source of revenue for local business. In fact, Cal has already gone to extraordinary lengths to be responsive to the needs and concerns of our neighbors. A few of the many examples include:

Conducting, at great expense, the previously mentioned additional seismic studies.

Modification of our original designs for stadium sound and lighting systems that will minimize gameday impacts on nearby neighborhoods.

Modification of the landscaping plan so that when the project is completed there will actually be more trees surrounding the stadium than there are today.

An offer to drastically reduce the size of a new parking garage under Maxwell Field so that we would replace only those parking spaces lost as a result of new construction.

Unfortunately, many of these important changes and proposals have been lost in media coverage that has focused on a few people in the trees at the expense of the factual forest. That, in turn, is why we will be making a concerted effort during the summer to take our case to directly to the public, civic leaders and local elected officials. The need for informed debate is ill-served by misinformation. Oak trees planted by the University in 1923 cannot be considered an "ancient grove." A building site that is clear of active fault lines cannot be labeled as unsafe. A center that will serve the pressing needs of 13 intercollegiate teams cannot be described as benefiting a single sport.

Finally, I ask all of you to remember that this endeavor is well worth the time and effort. We can, must and will provide our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans with facilities that are safe, suitable and environmentally responsible.

We’ll keep you posted. Have a great summer.

Go Bears!
Sandy Barbour
Director of Athletics