Advertisement

Officials will consider moving $41M Estancia theater project to save rare campus green space

NMUSD planned to build a new theater at the site of the Estancia High School senior lawn, seen in November 2020.
NMUSD planned to build a new theater at Estancia High School, on the current site of the school’s senior lawn, seen in November 2020.
(Raul Roa)
Share

Initially slated for removal to accommodate a $41.2-million performing arts complex, the senior lawn at Estancia High School could be given a reprieve, after Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s superintendent agreed Tuesday to consider relocating construction.

Dr. Wes Smith said he was open to discussing other options for the project, which has been criticized for its plan to tear out a nearly 1-acre green space on the otherwise concrete campus and was targeted in a lawsuit filed against NMUSD by the city of Costa Mesa.

Trustees agreed Tuesday to reject three construction bids for the work, after two of the firms submitted bid protests against one another. Once budgeted at around $32 million, the project’s total cost has climbed to $41.2 million.

Advertisement

“Considering the action the Board of Education has taken to reject the construction bids, the escalating costs and the input of our students, I will be meeting with our team to review potential alternative site locations at Estancia High School, with the goal of evaluating the feasibility of maintaining green space in the front of the school and constructing the theater project in a prominent location along Placentia Avenue at the scale intended,” Smith said.

A rendering of the Estancia High School theater proposed for the east side of the Costa Mesa campus.
(Courtesy of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District)

The superintendent’s comment was delivered in an informal report near the end of Tuesday’s meeting. Smith did not indicate when the review would take place or what other sites might be considered.

It’s been more than a year since NMUSD officials introduced a plan to place the theater on the east side of the Costa Mesa campus, along Placentia Avenue, explaining a project review committee had considered four other locations but found them logistically problematic.

Ara Zareczny, director of facilities development, said in a November 2020 presentation placing the theater on the north end of campus would require relocation of Estancia’s tennis courts, while a parking lot on southeast corner contained sewer lines and equipment that would be costly to disrupt.

Nevertheless, residents have continued to speak against the decision to tear out the senior lawn, which they claim provides natural respite to students who attend the nearly windowless school.

Estancia junior Fernando Barránon speaks at an NMUSD board meeting Tuesday, March 9, 2022.
Estancia junior Fernando Barránon Tuesday presented a petition with 200 student signatures protesting removal of the senior lawn to NMUSD trustees.
(Screenshot by Sara Cardine)

Estancia junior Fernando Barránon said in a public comment Tuesday he’d circulated a petition among his fellow students indicating opposition to removing the green area and more than 30 mature trees growing there, and gathered more than 200 signatures in a matter of days.

He explained the lawn is a place where students socialize before and after school and during lunch periods, a place of respite not found elsewhere on campus.

“We resort to this place because it’s unlike any other at our school. We are able to feel calm and welcomed even with the stress we carry,” he added. “It’s great the district wants to invest, but that location it’s headed toward is not an ideal location.”

With little discussion, board members unanimously voted to reject the three construction bids and potentially rebid the project, although it’s unclear if the scope and nature of the work might change if a new location is selected.

Trustee Karen Yelsey clarified Tuesday’s vote did not mean the project would be halted.

“It has nothing to do with our commitment to build a theater at Estancia,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that this happened. But it was because of the firms that were bidding, so we had no control over it.”

Meanwhile, Costa Mesa city officials continue to pursue legal action against the district for declaring the multimillion-dollar construction project exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) — a move they said precluded public input — appealing a ruling by an Orange County Superior Court judge indicating they’d missed the deadline to file a complaint.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.

Advertisement