Light poles at Hammond Middle School.
Updated at 8:45 p.m. Monday, Aug. 14:
After years of contentious debate, city officials are moving forward with installing stadium lighting at four schools and a park in Alexandria — but one installation has already upset some residents.
The poles for lights at Hammond Middle School at 4646 Seminary Road were installed across the second and third lanes of the track that goes around the turf soccer field at the school.
Staff from Alexandria's Parks and Recreation Dept. said the contractor, the Robert E. Lee Electric company, made an error. After drilling holes for pole placement straddling the second and third lanes of the track, the company moved the light poles into the first (inside) lane of the track.
The placement of the light poles on the actual track makes it more difficult and more dangerous for students and residents to use the track, according to a letter from Seminary Hill Association President Bill Rossello. It has also reduce the number of usable track lanes from six to five (once the holes from the initial drilling, shown above, are patched).
Rosello also stated, in multiple follow-up letters to City Council and School Board members, that the placement seems to go against what residents thought the school board and city council understood to be the expected placement of light poles.
The poles could not go inside the fence separating the track from the field without damaging the turf field's complex drainage system. But placing the poles on the outside of the track (on the grass between Pickett Street and the track) put the city at risk of violating the 35-feet-from-the-property-line requirement.
The most recent staff report with special use permit documentation shows the light poles either inside the track (page 10 and in a presentation to Council) or taking up a lane of the track (page 179). A separate presentation to the School Board showed poles between the track and Pickett Street, away from the track and field.
Earlier this year, a resident who lives near Hammond filed a suit against a city official related to the actions and decisions of that official surrounding the resident's attempt to appeal the permit for athletic field lights at Hammond. That suit is ongoing. (The resident also filed notice to the court in July that if the city installed the lights, and the court's judgement is in favor of the resident, the city could be forced to remove the lights.)
City of Alexandria
Alexandria City Public School Board President Michelle Rief said ACPS was aware of the issue and the school board would respond through their official communications person. As of Monday evening, there was no official response from the ACPS board.
An email from Council Member Kirk McPike sent to Rossello said that the "contractor did not follow the approved plans and began to install the light posts in the wrong place. This error was noticed and is being corrected. The final build out of the project will conform to the plans approved by the Council, and the damage caused by the contractor’s mistake will be fixed by the contractor."
A phone call to the Robert E. Lee Electric company Monday afternoon was only answered by a recording stating that the number was "not accepting calls at this time."
Other lights are slated to be installed at Patrick Henry School and Rec Center on Taney Avenue, Jefferson Houston School on Cameron Street, George Washington Middle School on Mount Vernon Avenue and Eugene Simpson Stadium Park on East Monroe Avenue.
