Plans to negotiate city’s sale of Civic Auditorium to Glendale College remain unclear
The Glendale City Council was slated to discuss in closed session negotiations regarding the sale of the Civic Auditorium to Glendale Community College, according to an Aug. 8 city agenda.
Asked to confirm whether the college and city were in talks to sell the property, Glendale spokesman Tom Lorenz said in a phone interview that he could not say what was discussed during the closed-session meeting because it would violate the Brown Act.
Lorenz added that if council members want to continue negotiating or engaging in the sale of the property, the city would have to “report out and say so in a meeting.”
In a phone interview Wednesday, Glendale Community College Supt./President David Viar referred questions to city officials, saying he couldn’t “say what the City Council is prepared to say.”
It is unclear whether negotiations are underway.
For the past few years, discussions to purchase the property — located across the street from the college at 1401 N. Verdugo Road — have surfaced, with the college planning to convert the building into additional classrooms.
In 2015, then Mayor Ara Najarian said city officials were exploring the idea and were waiting to see if the college would make a “worthwhile offer.”
Last year, voters approved Measure GC, a $325-million bond, which will help fund the renovation of facilities at Glendale Community College.
The plan to purchase the auditorium first arose during a board meeting in June 2014 when accounting professor Michael Scott suggested trustees try acquiring the property for a student union and additional classrooms.
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