School District, Museum Wrangle Over Site of Science Magnet

In a few years, Santa Ana may be the home of the county’s first fundamental high school focusing on science and technology. But just where it will be built continues to be a sore point between the school district and the small museum that may become its next-door neighbor.

For two years, the district and museum have been negotiating and working together on a plan that would fulfill the city’s need for more schools and allow the Discovery Museum of Orange County to keep its site intact at Centennial Regional Park at Fairview and Harvard streets. The main roadblock--money--may force the issue to be settled in court.

The museum, which has a 96-year lease with the school district that expires in 2079, pays $1 a year for its 12-acre parcel. Museum officials feel they should be financially compensated for the land they would lose. But provisions in the lease allow for the district to take back portions of the property if the space is needed. There is also a clause that requires the museum to follow through on several phases of development, including the renovation of a 100-year-old ranch house on its property.

A design plan unveiled at a recent school board meeting showed what the joint-use campus would look like and how the museum would gain and lose. Ruben Smith, legal counsel for the Santa Ana Unified School District, said the museum would gain much-needed frontage on Fairview Street but would lose about 1.55 acres.

“Two items triggered this: the need for a school site and them not following through on their expansion,” Smith said. “High schools here are twice the size of the average high school. We need to build two more high schools just to accommodate the new growth.”

Museum board member Tim Rush says he understands the district’s need to build more schools but is upset because of the investments made during the museum’s 20 years of existence. Rush says he and other members of the community are encouraging the district to look elsewhere for land and have also enlisted a lawyer to represent their case.

“We’re concerned about our ability to weather the construction of a high school,” Rush said, referring to the impact the dirt and noise would have on the museum’s major source of income--the hosting of weddings and special events on the museum grounds.

The magnet school would feature a curriculum that would use business and computer technology and would have an enrollment of about 2,000 students.

School board President John Palacio said the city, which has the largest school district in the county, is in desperate need of more schools. The four existing high schools are overburdened with too many students and use too many portable classrooms at each school.

Palacio says developing some of the district-owned land--which is largely dirt--would be beneficial not only to students but also to the overall community.

“The position of the district has been to put together a proposal that the total community would benefit from,” Palacio said. “For example, our curriculum would complement the museum’s focus [on] the sciences.”

Also, through a joint-use agreement, a library, performing arts complex-gymnasium, outdoor swimming pool, tennis and basketball courts and athletic fields would be available for use by the public. Santa Ana College would use some of the facilities for evening classes.

Ana Beatriz Cholo can be reached at (714) 966-5890.