Claremont McKenna College (CMC) and Pitzer College have both placed an interest in developing a sports complex out of the quarry on the border of Claremont and Upland; it is located on the east side of Claremont Boulevard, between Foothill Boulevard and Sixth Street. The Claremont University Consortium’s (CUC) plan includes a conceptual site plan and a thirty year development agreement for the development of the sports complex.

The area is desolate of anything; the land CMC will purchase is approximately 41.2 acres and is bisected by county lines: 11.8 acres in Los Angeles County and 29.4 acres are San Bernardino County. Both the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reviews were passed by the city of Upland in May, signifying it is okay to go through with the plan. The EIR and CEQA provides the public and decision makers with information regarding any environmental difficulties a project may offer and is mandatory to project.

The property is owned by CUC and has been held to accommodate future growth. The area will be divided, seventeen acres going to Pitzer while Claremont McKenna will obtain forty one acres. Plans for the sports complex include extensive basketball, volleyball, and tennis court and many other sports courts. The plan gives CMC flexibility to add additional parking and to relocate some or all of the varsity athletic fields in the event the college decides to increase enrollment in the future and provides the students with additional resources to better serve them.

“The purchase resulted from a campus planning process that was activated in response to a directive from the Board of Trustees to plan for a future potential enrollment of 1,400, our constitutional limit.  This is because the Board did not want to make decisions on a project-by-project basis without the benefit of a longer-term vision.  It was through this process that the college recognized the need to have potential options to relocate its varsity athletic fields if it did ultimately grow to 1,400 students in Claremont,” Joann D. Young, the Director of Media Relations of CMC, said.

Most are in favor, but, conflict has risen because the project requires the removal of eight historic American Elm trees. The commissioner for the sports complex, Doug Lyon, has concerns regarding this.. He called for a policy outlining the general plan that requires 50 percent tree coverage in construction areas within five years of the construction and asks when development begins if the colleges can abide to this.

The development of converting the abandoned quarry, will turn an area that had contributed nothing, into a fun environment and that will also act as will be a great extension of  to the the colleges. The dates of the development are yet to be released but will be announced soon and is something to look forward to.