Isolated location has attracted some criticism
Gilroy – Cozied up to the freeway, next door to the Hometown Buffet and the Kaiser complex and a hop away from the factory outlets – that’s where locals will find the Gilroy Unified School District office building.
But the 17-year-old decision to move from the former Third and Church streets location to the east side facility, brought some criticism from this close-knit community, since not a single school site sits on the same side of U.S. 101.
“We’re in Siberia here,” said school board Vice President Tom Bundros.
Bundros’ opinion is echoed by district officials, who would like to see the school hub in a more centralized location and are eyeing Gilroy’s soon-to-be revamped downtown. During Thursday’s board meeting, Assistant Superintendent Steve Brinkman and representatives from South County Housing showcased a model of the Gilroy Cannery building.
The bottom level of the mixed-use building, which is set to open in 2009, will include 40,000 square feet of commercial space. The district is looking at purchasing 18,000 square feet of that area, a bit smaller than the current 18,555.
Bundros expressed his support for the idea, pointing out that a location in the middle of downtown Gilroy would do wonders for the district’s communication with the community, an area that has come under fire lately.
“We’d be there next to the coffee house,” he said.
Brinkman spent some time explaining the drawbacks of the district’s current locale and why the local school system could benefit from a move. While one of the pluses of the Arroyo Circle location is that the district owns the site outright, proximity to schools would be an improvement.
“It’s the only property on the east side of 101, which makes it less convenient to service the schools,” he said.
A move to the South Valley Middle School property where Gilroy’s charter school is currently located is another possibility. That site would be less expensive and would obviously be near schools.
But since the school already owns that property there is no sense of urgency in making that decision. The Cannery is a different story.
South County Housing has to begin construction in June and the property will be listed next week.
“And so we really need to make a decision about the configuration and whether it’s going to be smaller spaces or one large user,” said Nancy Wright, South County Housing senior project manager. “Right now it’s a blank slate, anything could be configured in it but the longer we wait the more it gets pinned down.”
If GUSD wants to move, a decision will have to be made in the next couple months. While it would be difficult financially, the move benefit both the school district and the Gilroy community.
“What this is about is if the district can figure out how to do this financially it would like to help infuse life into the downtown,” Brinkman said. “I just think it’s a better overall central location. I mean, there are literally schools within blocks of that location.”
If the board recommends it, the district will pursue the issue and see if it’s feasible. But moving would be costly since $1.75 million is expected to be generated from the sale, leaving the district more than $3 million short.
“There’s some significant funding issues we would have to overcome,” said Superintendent Edwin Diaz.
