RUSD breaks ground on long-awaited Ronnie Lott Stadium, Performing Arts Theatre at Eisenhower High

Eisenhower Eagles were soaring Tuesday morning when Rialto Unified School District officials broke ground on two long-awaited projects — Ronnie Lott Stadium and a Performing Arts Theatre.

The stadium, a 291,855 square foot project includes a track and field area and can seat close to 5,000 spectators. The $7.8 million project has an estimated completion date of Aug. 2017.

The $9.9 million 19,586 square foot performing arts center will seat more than 500.

Construction completion is expected in April 2018. Both projects are funded through a $98 million general obligation bond, Measure Y, which passed Nov. 2010.

“This is indeed an exciting day and long overdue,” said Nancy O’Kelley, Rialto school board member and former Eisenhower administrator.

“I’m going to be blunt and tell you that one of the reasons I ran for the board in 2012 was to make sure that Eisenhower High School once and for all gets the upgrades that it has been promised so many times before and never happened.”

Measure Y funds were earmarked to support some of the district’s aging schools for improvements, Eisenhower’s new stadium and performing arts center are two of the marquee features of improvements necessary, said Rialto school district Superintendent Cuauhtémoc Avila.

“So, thank you to those of you who gave your time, energy and donations and truly cared about the welfare of our deserving students.”