No One Bids to Lease School Site; District May Sell

Torrance school officials are considering selling the former Columbia School site because of the lack of interest in renting the facility.

They had asked for bids this week for a lease on the former school buildings. But when no bids emerged at a meeting Monday, the board asked the school staff to study the idea of selling the property, school board President Owen Griffith said.

An official at a Torrance private school mentioned earlier as a possible tenant said the school would prefer to buy the property.

“We certainly are very interested in it,” said Janet Switzer, executive director and founder of the Switzer Center, a 24-year-old Torrance school for learning-disabled and emotionally disturbed children at 1110 Sartori Ave.

The district’s assistant superintendent for business services, Harvey Oelkers, refused through a spokesman to talk to a reporter. No information was available about whether there might be other potential buyers.

Columbia School has been vacant since 1987. The tan-and-pink buildings sit along 186th Street west of Hawthorne Boulevard in northwest Torrance.

The school board decided in May to try to lease the property, either the entire five-acre site for a minimum of $380,000 annually, or the three-acre parcel containing the school for at least $300,000.

The Switzer Center is looking for larger quarters, but could not afford the lease terms and to pay for needed renovations, Switzer said.

Board members had indicated that any tenant would be responsible for rehabilitating the buildings at an estimated cost of $650,000 or more.

Representatives of the Switzer Center have met with school officials several times to discuss the property, Switzer said. She said she is troubled by how the buildings could be damaged from standing vacant. “That’s raised a lot of concerns,” she said. “Has heating been damaged? Has air-conditioning been damaged?”

Griffith said leasing the property has not been ruled out. A report is expected to be presented to the board at its next meeting on June 18, Griffith said.