‘The Cave’ to be renamed to honor the memory of coach Bob Levada tomorrow night

Most of us locals refer to the gym at Lassen High School as “The Cave” — but we might be surprised to know the official name of the facility is the Pacific Street Gym.

Well, that is until tomorrow night when the facility will be renamed to honor coach Bob Levada — one of the biggest names in LHS sports history.

The dedication ceremony is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 17, between the JV and varsity games — about 7 p.m. — when the Lassen Union High School District will rename the gym to honor Levada’s memory.

During a 25-year career at LHS, Levada served as a teacher, football and basketball coach, athletic director and mentor to many young coaches.

Prior to his retirement in 1984, Levada was instrumental in organizing the Lassen Invitational Tournament that his JV basketball teams won in 1961, 1962, 1964, 1968, 1980 and 1981.

During his tenure at LHS, Levada wore many hats — sweeping the court during halftime and even driving a bus if needed. He was frequently seen attending to details at the gym until the early 2000s, even assisting with coaching duties. He seldom missed an athletic event unless he was out of town.

According to a statement from LHS, “Many of the closets and storage spaces in the big gym are of his design and construction, He and his wife Mary were known to take in players who needed a place to stay or provided a hot meal when a player was hungry.

“Bob Levada was a man of integrity and character who touched the lives of hundreds of student athletes. His greatest accomplishment was to teach valuable life skills; respect for others and themselves, kindness and compassion, and being part of a team, which required reliability and sacrifice. Much of this he did by example, just by being ‘coach.’”