Community College Proposal : Swap of Pt. Loma School, Midway Center Urged

The San Diego Community College District trustees Thursday proposed swapping the district’s Midway Continuing Education Center for the closed Dana Junior High School, a trade that could eventually solve a longstanding dilemma for Dana’s owner, the San Diego city school system.

While few details of the possibly complicated trade have been considered, the proposal opens a possible solution to the controversy surrounding the future of the 13.4-acre Dana site, a struggle that involves city and school officials and angry citizens in the community around the former Point Loma school.

The battle began last year, when the city school system, desperate for money to expand facilities in areas where rapid growth has led to overcrowded schools, took steps to lease Dana and the closed Farnum Elementary School in Pacific Beach to residential developers for 99 years.

The plan was halted by lawsuits filed by residents of both communities, who vehemently opposed losing public land for the construction of new multifamily housing. Under an out-of-court settlement of the suits reached in August, the school district will not proceed with leases before it holds hearings on the matter and conducts an environmental impact assessment of the move.

The San Diego City Council in March also moved to block the leases by threatening to acquire the closed schools at a fraction of their value. Ultimately, the city worked out a compromise with the school district under which a joint task force is examining possible uses of Dana, Farnum and four other closed school sites.

The community college trustees authorized Chancellor Garland Peed to discuss trading the 5.4-acre Midway center at 3249 Fordham St. in the Sports Arena area for the Dana site, which is currently boarded up and unused. The authorization came early Thursday morning, at the end of a marathon meeting of the trustees, said spokesman Kristin Tow.

Located in a commercial area, the Midway center--which has 39,000 square feet of building space--is on land that the school district could profitably lease to developers, said Damon Schamu, director of plant and equipment services for the community college district.

The community college could then move classes from the Midway center, overflow classes from its crowded East San Diego Continuing Education Center and possibly some offices into Dana, which has more than 100,000 square feet of usable space, Schamu said. That move would keep the building in the public’s possession--as demanded by community members--and prevent a long-term lease to developers, he said.

“It would give the unified (district) what they want. We would move in and get what we want. And it would give the community what they want,” Schamu said. “I don’t see anybody losing.”

However, no swap could be completed before a San Diego Unified School District committee holds a hearing to determine the community’s preferences for the future of Dana, and before an environmental impact assessment is conducted, said Claudia Engstrom, chairwoman of the Community Coalition for Dana.

On Monday, the city’s Planning Department offered about 600 Point Loma residents who showed up at a meeting eight possible options for the school--five of which involved residential development--but community members declined to rank them, Engstrom said.

Still to be determined are the relative values of the Midway and Dana sites, whether cash payments would be included in the deal, and whether the community college district could afford to renovate Dana in order to use it--crucial details if a deal is to be reached. The city and community groups would also have to be consulted, Schamu said.

Schamu said meetings with city schools Supt. Tom Payzant and City Manager John Lockwood are scheduled for next week.

The proposal met with cautious optimism from San Diego Unified School District officials and Point Loma residents involved in the situation.

“My view on Dana is that we need to look at every option that is out there,” Payzant said. “Everything’s worth a look.”

Kay Davis, who represents the Point Loma area on the school board and has backed the 99-year lease of Dana, said: “I’m interested in any and all scenarios that would give the district what we need--which is some funds--and give the community what they need--which is as little development as possible on the site.”

And Diane Calkins, a member of the Community Coalition for Dana, said she would be in favor of any plan that kept the land in public hands.

Meanwhile, Tina Dyer, attorney for the city school district, said Thursday that the San Diego County grand jury is investigating the procedures used to close Dana and maintenance of the school since it closed. Residents of the area at 1774 Chatsworth Blvd. have complained that the district has purposely allowed the facility to deteriorate so that it will be razed.

Dyer said that she testified before the grand jury’s education subcommittee in August or September. Ann Jackson, vice-chairman of the Point Loma Village Assn., said she spoke before the grand jury in August.

“This is part of their civil function,” Dyer said. “It’s not a criminal investigation.” The grand jury could issue a report on the matter next June when it concludes its term or an interim report before that time, she said.