LONG BEACH, Calif. - Long Beach Polytechnic High School is getting something new.

Many great athletes have come out of Poly high school. Dean of Students Robert Shock knows a few of them personally. He started working as a college aide at Poly in 1989. He was also a student at Poly before that.

“Our kids don’t understand how tough it was running on that dirt surface,” said Shock.

Now the sports complex behind the school is getting torn down and totally redone. They’re getting all-weather turf and the new stands will be aluminum and steel rather than concrete.

The money for this project is coming from the taxpayers. The Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education put a $1.5 billion school repair and safety bond measure on the ballot in 2016. They called it Measure E. It passed with almost three-quarters of people voting yes.

Everything won’t be finished until July, but athletes can use the new track and field now.

Measure E funds can’t be spent on administrator salaries. They are going to other repairs, including adding air conditioning to several Long Beach schools.

For many, it’s money well spent.