Hundreds of students, staff, residents and local dignitaries celebrated at La Mirada High School this past Thursday evening at the grand opening ceremony of the new Goodman Stadium, marking the completion of the school's latest athletic facilities project. 

The stadium, part of a larger project to upgrade the school's athletic space, includes a new synthetic track and turf fields for football and other sports events and satisfies all CIF requirements. It will have a seating capacity of 8,145.

New additions include:

  • A new synthetic turf and eight-lane track
  • New lighting
  • New home and visitor bleachers
  • New home side and visitor side buildings with concessions, restrooms, and team rooms.
  • A new ticket booth
  • New scoreboard
  • New press box

The upgrade was funded by the 2014 Measure G, a $375 million education bond aimed at improving and modernizing facilities for a high-quality experience for students in and out of the classroom. The stadium's opening is a significant milestone for the school and the community, as it not only enhances the student-athlete experience but also provides a state-of-the-art venue for various sports events.

(L-R): NLMUSD Board Member Karen Morrison; NLMUSD Board Member Chris Staples; NLMUSD Director of College & Career Pathways, Dr. Joanne Jung; NLMUSD Assistant Superintendent, Elementary, Dr. Kristine Cvar.; NLMUSD Board Member Norma Amezcua; NLMUSD Board Member Dr. Lorena Vidaurre; NLMUSD Assistant Superintendent, Secondary, Dr. Jessica Medrano.

The original stadium opened as La Mirada Stadium in 1973 after Ralph H. Davis, a school booster club parent, beginning in 1966, organized an effort for La Mirada High to have its own home field. The school opened in 1960.

In 1992, a name change to the venue-from La Mirada Stadium to Goodman Stadium-created a lot of controversy and caused friction between the city and the school district. The change was to honor Arvel Goodman, a longtime coach and athletic administrator who worked over 34 years at the school.

The first official event for the new digs is the Class of 2024 Commencement Ceremony on June 5th at 7:00 p.m.  The first game for the school's football team-its first on campus since November 2, 2018-is scheduled for August 30th against Western.

The overall school project also included the construction of new baseball and softball fields and practice fields which are expected to open in June. Other various other sports facilities have been completed including a new weight room and an already completed new tennis center at the northwest area of the campus, further improving the school's athletic offerings.

New Goodman Stadium Quick Facts:

  1. Square footage of turf : approximately 125,000 sf
  2. Height of the bleachers: approximately 41’ for Home side & 23’ for visitors side.
  3. Seating capacity of bleachers: 8,145 (down from 8,800)?
  4. Number of MUSCO lighting poles: 6
  5. Total square footage of all buildings: Approximately 4,850 sf.
  6. Highest number of workers on one day 50
  7. Number of sub-contractors: 15
  8. Site fully ADA accessible, with ADA restrooms, Family Room with adult changing table, ADA bleachers, ADA site ramp.
  9. Musco LED lights have tracking ball technology lighting to illuminate ball at night and remote access to the Musco lights for powering on or off.
  10. Rekortan G-10, the world’s “greenest track” utilizes a total of 88% renewable/recyclable content. The Gel layer provides the best force reduction and energy return vs the standard track systems. College level specs. built to.
  11. The turf has a Brock Shock Pad underneath the field/discus areas, which exceeds all safety standards across multiple sports, significantly reduces the risk of concussion/injury and accelerates the drainage rate of the field.

Video of grand opening ceremony

Newspaper clipping circa 1972