Spotlight on Larsen Field

After years of community efforts, eight 90-foot light towers were installed at Larsen Field in San Ysidro, which means neighborhood kids can now play baseball, football, and soccer after dark.

San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, city councilman David Alvarez, and other city officials cut the ribbon leading to the fields during a ceremony on January 6. Alvarez said the lights were significant for the neighborhood just north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

“With the addition of the sports lights, the San Ysidro community will now have access to youth soccer, flag football, and baseball programs during the evening hours,” Alvarez said.

The new lighting will “double the use of the park” and because the high-end energy-efficient towers were installed with their own electric network, city officials expected to save around 20 percent or more on the park’s lighting expenses, according to Parks Division deputy director Mark Nassar. The lights also can be focused only on the sports fields, reducing light pollution in surrounding areas, he said.

Planners of the towers said there were challenges gaining an exemption from a zoning ordinance that restricts lighting near the coast to 35 feet. “To get these in here is a success in itself,” Nassar said.

The roughly one-million-dollar project at the city-owned park on Sycamore Road near Camino de la Plaza (which had been in the works since 2011) also included adding drinking fountains and walkways connecting the fields to the Cesar Chavez Community Center and parking lots — all compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Nassar said.

San Ysidro Recreation Council and school district president Antonio Martinez thanked city officials for the improvements, saying the “eight lights of hope” would lead to a healthier and safer community.

Faulconer said the lights were essential to ensuring the fields were being used and showed that the city was investing in its communities.

“When we give our kids the opportunities to participate in these sports and give them more opportunities to get involved, that strengthens us as San Diegans,” said Faulconer. “That strengthens our community here in San Ysidro and that strengthens all of our families.”

The project was among several planned improvements for the San Ysidro neighborhood, which include an upcoming update to the children’s play area at Larsen Field, Alvarez said.