School Board Struggles for a Belmont Solution

Meeting for the first time since the announced discovery of an earthquake fault below the Belmont Learning Complex, members of the Los Angeles school board Tuesday night hinted that building a smaller high school on a less seismically scarred portion of the site might be the least painful alternative.

In a 20-minute discussion, Supt. Roy Romer outlined three options for the troubled property near downtown. Those are: razing two buildings, but keeping and retrofitting four buildings that do not sit right on top of the fault; finding an entirely different location for the school; or using 12 acres of the 35-acre site that seem safest to build an entirely new high school for 1,500 to 2,000 students. About 3,600 students were to be accommodated in the original construction plan.

Pressed by board members, Romer suggested that retrofitting the existing buildings might prove too costly. Offering no details, he allowed that building on the 12 acres would be the more likely option, but stressed that he wanted to wait for a district study, due within 60 days.

Board member Jose Huizar, whose district includes the site, has publicly supported that option. Board President Caprice Young said, “I might support the 12 acres.” At the conclusion, Romer said he had heard “more preference” within the board for the 12-acre option.

Still, a majority continued to express doubt that a school would be built on the site of the complex, which has cost $175 million and has never been completed because of previous problems with underground gases from former oil wells. Earlier this year, the board moved to revive the stalled project and authorized studies on ways to deal with the pollution. But the announcement last week that a small fault had been discovered underneath two of the six unfinished buildings ended efforts to quickly revive the project, which already is the most expensive high school in the state.

Board member David Tokofsky raised the possibility of selling the property and changing plans for a new school on the Ambassador Hotel site to accommodate capacity lost at Belmont.

Board members lamented the district’s inability to complete a seismic study before construction began. They also questioned the $6 million the district has spent studying the Belmont site since the board voted in March to revive the project.