Thursday, May 07, 2009

CITY COLLEGE DROPS PLANS FOR CAMPUS AT HISTORIC VAN de KAMP BAKERY SITE

LA Times Now blog | 8:31 AM | May 7, 2009

Los Angeles City College has abandoned plans to open a satellite campus at the renovated Van de Kamp's bakery site, the subject of a ferocious preservationist fight almost a decade ago.

The Los Angeles Community College District adapted the building and its 16th century Dutch town-house facade for the college's use.

Because of budget problems, however, the district will now turn the property over, most likely, to the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools for a charter high school, said Larry Eisenberg, the district's executive director for facilities planning and development.

The property will have a workforce development center and a community gym, Eisenberg said.

The district will review the arrangement in five years, at which point the satellite campus idea could be revived, he added.

To honor the bakery heritage, Eisenberg said he had investigated festooning a security fence with decorative cupcakes, rolls and other goodies, but it turned out to be expensive. Eisenberg said he hopes to come up with a reasonably priced alternative.

--Gale Holland

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