San Benito Gavilan campus site still under discussion
A new Gavilan College campus in San Benito County is still
likely more than a decade away, but trustees are getting closer to
narrowing down a potential location.
San Benito Gavilan campus site still under discussion
A new Gavilan College campus in San Benito County is still likely more than a decade away, but trustees are getting closer to narrowing down a potential location.
The Gavilan College Board of Trustees heard another presentation at their meeting last week from the subcommittee saddled with the task of locating a suitable site for a San Benito campus and the outcome looks good.
After the public outcry that came about as a result of the board’s decision to locate a campus near the airport, the board wanted to make sure that when it re-examined the location for a San Benito County campus it explored all its options.
“The community response called for the college board to establish a subcommittee of four trustees, one from Morgan Hill, one from Gilroy and two from San Benito County to look at more suitable locations for the college campus,” said Kent Child, a Gavilan trustee.
At the time that the board initially chose the property near the airport, Child said the real estate climate in San Benito County was different and no one was certain if things were only going to get worse.
“We no longer feel quite the same pressure from climbing prices,” Child said. “Back then, with limited funds at our disposal we felt that if we acted too slowly we would be priced away. Now we have a few positive potential sites.”
So far the subcommittee has come up with a list of 16 potential sites – a list that has been published before. All 16 of the sites that have been previously identified all fall within the size range that the state has deemed appropriate, but some are too small or too large for Gavilan’s needs, Child said.
Realistically, the site for a campus must be located along a public transportation route and be fairly close to other nearby amenities. Child said that one of the most important things that the subcommittee focused on was the transportation ramifications.
“We want students to be able to get to and from the campus easily wherever we decide to locate it, but that won’t be tomorrow,” Child said. “We may have a building put up, but the finality of the project is at least a decade away.”
Patrick O’Donnell can be reached at [email protected].
