Field house causes confrontation

Kathleen Hodge, president of Fullerton College, addressed the concerns of a worried audience of Fullerton residents, Thursday at the College Center, regarding the creation of the new athletic complex.

The meeting began with Hodge outlining the progress of the project, which has thus far seen the creation of the Olympic-size swimming pool and hopes to finish the Field House and Football/Soccer field by March.

David Gess, a community activist for more than 50 years, brought most of the attendee's attention to the project by distributing flyers.

Gess claimed the new stadium would create unnecessary levels of light and noise pollution, which citizens should not have to deal with.

According to Gess, the Hornets already have access to the Fullerton High School stadium.

However, Ron Beeler, consultant of the construction, assured the crowd that the lights installed with the new stadium will be hooded and all light will be carefully directed towards the field and away from homes.

This did not stop Elizabeth Poet, a resident of the community for 52 years, from making the claim that the 1500-seat stadium would add traffic and noise during games.

"How do they expect us to live like this?" Poet said. "What will happen to the value of my home? I will never be able to sell it."

The FC Physical Education staff retorted by saying that the current average attendance for a Hornets football home game is around 1500 and FC hosts five home games during the season; half of which take place on Saturdays.

The statement received approval from the audience.

"There are practical, real reasons to provide the new field to protect the community and provide the best opportunity to our athletes," Hodge said, addressing the need to update the old field, which contained harmful chemicals, such as mercury.

David Lowe, long time Fullerton resident, claimed people like Gess are making too many speculations and that the creation of the new stadium will change nothing.

The majority of residents came to complain about a lack of parking on campus. Residents living off Berkeley avenue claimed that large amounts of students parking in front of their homes restricted access to services, such as gardeners, and that there is no place for visitors to park.

According to Hodge, the construction will yield 460 new parking spaces to the 3,314 spaces allotted on campus.

Ned Doffoney, North Orange County Community College chancellor, ordered that a record of construction be added to the NOCCCD Web site, allowing residents access to all of the information about the project.

Residents were invited to freely voice their opinions to Doffoney, who gave his phone number and email address to the crowd and said to call him with their complaints.