ORANGE : Unused School Site Plans Considered

Nine years after being shut down, Peralta Middle School today resembles a ghost town, with weeds sprouting from cracks in the deserted blacktop playground and homeless people claiming its dusty classrooms for shelter.

What to do with the Canal Street campus has long been an issue for the Orange Unified School District.

In the coming months, school district trustees are expected to vote on a proposal to develop a golf driving range on the site.

Such a plan could generate as much as $750,000 a year in revenue for the cash-strapped school district.

It could also mean the removal of buildings that nearby residents view as both dangerous and ugly.

But at least one trustee has raised concerns about the driving range, questioning the logic of razing school buildings that one day might need to be rebuilt if student enrollment in the area increases.

The district hired an Irvine consulting company to answer that and other questions about the proposal.

The company analyzed the bids of three sports companies which seek to build the facility and lease the 22-acre Peralta site.

The report was released earlier this month. While the document does not recommend one company’s bid over the others, it does provide district trustees with a closer examination of the three plans.

Each proposal would devote 10 to 12 acres of land for a driving range and set aside the remaining 10 acres for public uses such as a sports field or community center, said Frank Remkiewicz, the district’s director of planning, research and information services.

The public park area would back up against nearby homes, creating a buffer between residents and the golf driving range, Remkiewicz said.

All plans require that at least some of the classroom buildings on the site be razed.

Exactly how much the district stands to gain from the golf deal is still the subject of negotiations.

But the annual payments to the district are expected to total at least $150,000 annually, and they could rise over the years to as much as $750,000 depending on the success of the driving range.

Peralta was closed in 1984 because student enrollment in the surrounding community was declining.

The land’s value was appraised in 1991 at $6.1 million if it was used for high-density residential development.

School officials don’t want to sell the site because it might one day need to be converted back into a middle school.

School board member Robert H. Viviano said that the district should think hard before razing the existing classrooms.

“I am really interested in the fact that we don’t tear down buildings that have value and then go and replace them in 10 or 15 years if student population is rejuvenated,” he said.

Viviano suggested modifying the development so that some of the school buildings are spared and perhaps even renovated as part of the deal.

“I think there is a way that we can preserve the buildings and still have the golf range,” he said. “Maybe a harmonious use can be found.”

Residents who live near the Peralta site hope that a decision is made soon.

At a recent school board meeting, more than 40 residents expressed their concerns about the vacant buildings, saying they attract transients and bring down property values.