School Won’t Be Put at Proposed Sports Park

Bowing to public pressure, the Ventura Unified School District has scrapped plans to put a middle school on the site of a proposed 100-acre sports park, officials announced Tuesday.

With public opinion solidly against a school at the east Ventura location, Supt. Joseph Spirito said the district decided to abandon the idea.

“The school district’s need for a middle school is out in the future and perhaps not so urgent at this time,” Spirito told board members during their meeting Tuesday night.

The district will look elsewhere in east Ventura for a middle school site, he said.

Ventura Mayor Sandy Smith said city planners will now concentrate on what types of athletic facilities to put in the park.

Officials will also consider whether to include a fire station at the park, which is planned at Kimball and Telephone roads.

Smith said the school district will still be involved with planning the park, because existing schools in the area will use the facility--particularly a swimming center included in the plans.

Many who opposed building a school in the park said it would have meant a dangerous mix of traffic and children. Others said that using 14 acres for a school would have taken too much land away from badly needed athletic fields.

Smith said Ventura is 200 acres short of what it needs for park space and, even with the sports park, the city will still be 100 acres behind what is called for in its long-range plans.

The shortage looms even if city plans are realized to eventually build several small community parks.

“You do as much as you can when you can,” Smith said.

Since the property must comply with the city’s SOAR slow-growth ordinance requiring voter approval, officials want to have a design done in time to put the proposed park on the November ballot.

The park will cost between $30 million and $36 million, depending on what facilities are built.

It was one of several sites the school district was considering for a middle school in east Ventura, said Joseph Richards, assistant superintendent.