Pasadena : School Site Sold to College

The Pasadena Unified School District has accepted a $4.75-million offer for a former school site that Pasadena City College wants for a Community Skills Center.

“We very much appreciate the school district’s decision to sell the site to us,” PCC President Jack A. Scott said. “We are glad the money will go to Pasadena schools.”

He said the college paid a fair price for the former district continuation high school at 3081 Foothill Blvd. The site includes one large concrete building that served as an auto shop, and a number of other smaller buildings. The college appraised the site at $4.2 million, while the district had put the figure at $4.5 million to $5.5 million.

After several months of discussion with neighbors of the 4.5-acre site, the Board of Education voted March 23 to negotiate its sale to the college. School officials said the site’s tenants, a community church and a construction company, have been notified they might have to leave in June.

College officials have searched for five years for a new permanent home for the skills center, which provides job training, English classes and other programs.

The state granted the college $4 million to purchase the site and $11.2 million to construct the facility. The college will apply for an addition to its grant to get the extra $750,000, Scott said.

He said construction of the skills center will begin next spring and be completed in 15 months. During that period the existing skills center will continue to operate at the former district middle school on South Oak Knoll Avenue.