After spending nearly half of a century calling the Hollister
Municipal Airport home, Gavilan College’s aviation program will
leave the site within the next 30 days, the school’s board of
trustees announced today.
After spending nearly half of a century calling the Hollister Municipal Airport home, Gavilan College’s aviation program will leave the site within the next 30 days, the school’s board of trustees announced today.
The college, which has been in operation at the airport since 1964, will move its aviation program to South County Airport in San Martin in light of Hollister leaders’ recent decision to raise the rent by nearly $7,000 per month. Trustees and other college leaders made the announcement during a press conference at the Hollister airport.
The college’s new renting agreement will cost the school $1,882 per month for each hangar, board member Deb Smith said. The college will move into either one or two hangars at the San Martin airport, and school leaders hope to have basic operations open by September. Â Â
Hollister City Council members’ earlier in the month voted to hike Gavilan College’s rent from $314.59 per month to $7,163.10.
The initial lease agreement between the city and college expired in 1998, and an increase was supposed to take place at that time. But the lease hike continually had been delayed until the recent set of events leading to Gavilan’s departure.
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