Montebello : Famous Site Cut From List

The Montebello Unified School District has eliminated the former Uniroyal plant as a potential site for a new high school, and chosen two other sites in Commerce for further study. The school board last week unanimously approved conducting environmental impact studies for the two sites, said Business Manager Stephen L. Phillips.

One of the sites is a 42-acre industrial parcel bordered by the Long Beach Freeway, Randolph Street and Eastern Avenue to a point just north of 61st Street. The other is a 42-acre site bordered on the east by Commerce City Hall, on the west by Strong Avenue, and on the north and south by Harbor and Jillson streets. It has modern industrial buildings; a small residential area along the western boundary has been excluded from the potential school site.

If the site near Commerce City Hall were chosen, the campus would be bisected by Eastern Avenue and a bridge would be built so students could cross, officials said.

The Uniroyal plant, a Santa Ana Freeway landmark built in 1929 to resemble an Assyrian castle, was one of several sites under final consideration. Local and state officials strongly opposed using it for a school.

Commerce, which owns the 35-acre site, is negotiating a lease agreement with the Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. to build a $90-million hotel-office complex there. The development is expected to generate $1 million in annual sales tax and lease income and provide 2,000 jobs. As planned, the development will leave mostly intact the famous facade of the abandoned tire factory.