Located atop a condensed bluff in the Oakland hills, Bishop O’Dowd High School approached Verde Design to address their natural grass baseball/softball field that was being overutilized by multiple activities including additional parking for the adjacent football field during the offseason. Since limited space is available, various levels of baseball and softball teams practice and play on the same field that was comparable to a recreation level facility with a small backstop, dugouts in close proximity to the field limits, unprotected shared access to spectator seating at both the baseball/softball field as well as the adjacent football field that was located within the field of play along right field, and a limited outfield bordered by an existing theater and storage building in center field and a new gymnasium and auxiliary department building past right field. Working with the client and onsite contractor for the new building, Verde Design developed multiple concepts and collaborated on the project budget to develop the optimum field within the client’s funding limit.

Designing within the limited field constraints, opportunities to extend the outfield limits were found along left field adjacent to the existing parking lot and then tied into the existing and new buildings in center and right field respectively. Increasing the fence height from 16’ to 30’ and including a new fence and netting combination, reduced the amount of posts and increased the spacing, visibility from outside the field, and safety beyond the field. Due to the amount of team use, a synthetic turf infield was installed and a durable natural turf blend was placed in the outfield to address additional parking needed for the adjacent football field. A netted backstop, modular dugout and bleacher upgrades were also installed at further safety offsets from the home plate location than the previous field. A 30’ tall perimeter fencing and netting combination provided an additional safety feature along the right field foul line to separate spectators’ access to seating at football games from those watching baseball/softball games. Finally, renovations to the bullpens, maintenance/storage facilities, and utilities boosted this combined multi-use field to the next level in both form and functionality.