A long-awaited project to install lighting at Cabrillo High School’s varsity baseball field — funded thanks to a donation from Major League Baseball‘s Danny Duffy — took another huge step forward.

With the donation from the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and CHS graduate covering up to $1.5 million of the cost, the high school will see the installation of eight Musco light standards around the perimeter of the varsity baseball field at the Vandenberg Village campus.

During Tuesday night’s meeting, the Lompoc Unified School District school board unanimously adopted a resolution awarding the $1.3 million bid using a piggyback contract, as allowed by law to take advantage of lower prices, through Sourcewell, a government agency that procures sports lighting with related supplies and services.

In presenting the item, Doug Sorum, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services, called the project exciting for the community.

“A lot of work goes into these public works projects,” Sorum said. “This will be a game-changer for our student athletes at Cabrillo.”

The action came after the project’s design and bid documents received approval from the Division of the State Architect, Lompoc officials said.

Musco is an approved vendor under Sourcewell. The lighting standards will range in height between 70 and 80 feet tall. 

Use of the lights will not extend past 9 p.m., according to Sorum.

Awarding of the bid came months after the school board conducted an environmental study for the lighting installation and approved a memorandum of understanding with Duffy, who pledged to cover between $1 million and $1.5 million in hard and soft costs for the project.

“I’d just like to say, ‘Thank you, Danny,’” board president Nancy Schuler-Jones said. “It’s a generous donation to the school, and I know it’s important to him.”

Duffy, who was born in Goleta and graduated from Cabrillo, was drafted in 2007 by the Kansas City Royals. He was traded to the Dodgers in the summer of 2021.

“He’s one of the most kind-hearted and generous people that I’ve ever met,” Sorum said. “All the recognization goes to him. … It was his dream that is finally coming to fruition.”

District officials hope to have the new lights installed ahead of the spring 2023 season.

— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.