Construction to Begin on Space-Saver School
Overcoming funding and political struggles, the Santa Ana Unified School District will break ground today on the state’s first space-saver campus.
The school earned its name because it will be built next to an existing commercial development, the Bristol Marketplace shopping center at 17th and Bristol streets.
While nontraditional in shape, the campus will be a “fundamental school” stressing a traditional curriculum.
The school plan came under criticism from residents and some officials, with concerns including the $18.5-million price tag for the land. Construction costs are expected to be $23.9 million.
Defenders of the school said it was an innovative way for the district to cope with growing student enrollment, but scarce land resources.
The space-saver school also is the first in the district to be named after two people, husband and wife Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez.
Gonzalo Mendez successfully sued Santa Ana and other local school districts in 1945 to end segregation of Latino students.
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