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  • UCSB Prepays $100,000 in Use Fees to Help Goleta's Girsh Park
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    UCSB Prepays $100,000 in Use Fees to Help Goleta's Girsh Park


    To help support the Girsh Park Foundation's drive to open escrow on 13 acres of sports fields in Goleta by a May 1 deadline, campus officials in late April agreed to prepay $100,000 in park usage fees to the Fields Forever Campaign.
    Easily overlooked amid the news that more than the $4 million needed to purchase the land had been gathered or pledged, the UCSB payment would, the foundation announced, "make a very large contribution towards preserving and en hancing the sports fields and the park." An additional goal of $1.9 had been set to meet operating expenses, make improvements, and create an endowment.
    Derek Westen, president of the foundation, said he was "delighted by the very generous participation of UCSB," adding that raising "just $400,000 in new gifts, all of which will be matched by the Girsh and Hochman challenge grant, will complete our entire campaign." No deadline for raising the additional funding was stated.
    The advance payment of fees is based on an understanding with the foundation that the campus will have scheduled access to the park and recreational facilities over the next several years, explained Everett Kirkelie, acting vice chancellor, administrative services. "UCSB will schedule its use so as to minimize any impacts on community members and their use of the park," he added.
    Planned construction of new student housing will remove some UCSB playing fields from use for various periods.
    "Contrary to rumor, Storke Fields are not going away," said Kirkelie. During construction, portions or possibly all of the fields may be off limits, but in the end he said the fields would be "redesigned and reconstructed to meet existing recreational program uses."
    Kirkelie added, "We are very pleased that the agreement with Girsh Park provides an alternative recreational program option for our campus."