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From Salvage to Shelter
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article featuring James Hubbell’s Boy’s House and other handmade homes:
Art Center at Pacific View
ARTS GROUP SETS ITS SIGHTS ON OLD PACIFIC VIEW SCHOOL
Art Pulse would buy prime Encinitas land for $7.5 million
ENCINITAS — A former elementary school on prime coastal property in Encinitas could be rebuilt into an arts and performance center.
The Encinitas Union School District board of trustees voted 4-1 this week to enter into negotiations with the nonprofit Art Pulse. The organization is proposing to buy the land from the district for $7.5 million to turn it into an arts center. The two sides will negotiate toward a March 2 deadline to finalize a deal.
The district has been trying to capitalize on the former site of Pacific View Elementary since the school closed in 2003 due to declining enrollment. Years of past redevelopment proposals have failed, and the district is now suing the city of Encinitas for twice denying to rezone the 2.8-acre parcel for residential development. The lawsuit would be dropped if Art Pulse and the district reach a deal.
The district rejected three other proposals for the land and a fifth withdrew.
Art Pulse would tear down Pacific View but retain an 1883 historic school on the property. It would build classrooms, an open-air amphitheater, industrial art space and underground parking, said April Game, the organization’s executive director. Renowned architect James Hubbell and his son, Drew, would design the center.
Encinitas Union Superintendent Tim Baird said he thought the situation could turn out great for the district’s goal of capitalizing on the property while also retaining the space as a community asset.
Pacific View, built in 1953, is in downtown Encinitas, about a block from the ocean. A prerecession estimate of the land was $13 million, and Baird has said the district aims to maximize profits to use toward education. Like most districts in the state, Encinitas Union has seen its budget reduced. The district cut its budget by $3 million this school year and could face an additional $5 million cut next year, Baird said.
Art Pulse, based at Liberty Station, has $4 million in hand and would make a $400,000 nonrefundable deposit should negotiations succeed, Baird said. Game said she has six donors who have pledged a minimum $300,000 to $500,000 each to help build the center. The organization would fundraise to help pay for the purchase and development of the center, she said.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/feb/18/tp-arts-group-sets-its-sights-on-old-pacific-view/
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