As noted in our previous column, the new Wood campus is open and gorgeous! But while all eyes have been on Wood Middle School, other Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) facility projects have also been moving full steam ahead.
First up: Alameda High’s new Swim Center is expected to open this coming October for student use, and several months later for community use. This will be a beautiful new facility, complete with a 12-lane by 30-meter competition pool for swim and water polo, a four-lane practice pool, new pool deck with lighting, and other aquatic amenities. The tennis courts are expected to open in October or November.
At Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School, contractors have broken ground on a new, full-size gymnasium with multi-sport court striping and bleachers, a weight room, and a new lobby with restrooms. This new auxiliary gym will be located on the blacktop adjacent to the existing gymnasium and tennis courts, and is expected to open in early 2028.
Krusi Park visitors have no doubt noticed that demolition has begun on the main classroom building at Otis Elementary School. We know this is heart-tugging for the many Alamedans who went to school there over the years, but the 70-year-old building has come to the end of its service life, and infrastructure at the site, along with classrooms and the administrative area, all need updating. Like Wood, the new campus will be modern, light-filled, and full of state-of-the-art amenities for today’s students. The project will be ready for students in August 2028.
As many readers know, AUSD has also been considering building a new athletic field for Alameda High School (AHS) for some time. This is because heavy annual use on a grass field results in ruts and holes, and Thompson Field is not big enough to fit a regulation track.
The proposed project would include a multi-sport synthetic turf athletic field, a competition track, bleachers with an announcer’s box, and modern lighting and sound systems. AUSD looked at several sites, including Alameda Point and the Alameda High School campus, as well as installing an upgraded football field at Thompson Field and a track at the Lum site (or having AHS students use the tracks at Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School or College of Alameda). But those options were too expensive and/or too far away from where AHS students live and go to school. As such, the proposed site is at the former Lum School campus, which can: fit a regulation track and regulation field; is close to students’ homes and school; and meets the bond budget.
Right now, the project is undergoing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis, which considers nearly two dozen potential environmental impacts from a proposed project, including air quality, noise, light, cultural resources, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, water quality, noise, and transportation.
AUSD held a public meeting in March 2026 about the project and a community workshop in May. In July, AUSD’s CEQA consultant, Brelje & Race Consulting Engineers, held the first formal CEQA meeting for neighbors to scope the environmental review. All of the public comments from that meeting will be included in the draft report, which is expected later this fall. A public comment period will follow the issuance of that draft.
So far, the primary concerns expressed by neighbors center on the potential for noise, lights, and traffic congestion. These issues will be investigated by experts and an analysis of their potential severity, as well as strategies to reduce them, will be included in the final report.
AUSD is grateful for the community’s support of facility programs and excited about seeing so many of the projects near completion!
Susan Davis is the Senior Manager of Community Affairs for the Alameda Unified School District. Reach her at [email protected].
