The San Benito County Board of Supervisors took a rare field
trip Tuesday to survey the former Southside Convalescent Hospital
for possible renovation to ease overcrowding in various county
departments.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors took a rare field trip Tuesday to survey the former Southside Convalescent Hospital for possible renovation to ease overcrowding in various county departments.
“There is a critical space shortage in the county,” County Administrative Officer Gil Solorio said.
The Board is still studying the proposal to turn the former convalescent hospital into office space. Early estimates place the cost at roughly $250,000, officials said.
Supervisors and several other county officials boarded a San Benito County Transit bus Tuesday morning to tour the empty facility at 3110 Southside Road
Supervisor Bob Cruz advised other officials not to look at the facility as it is but to “keep in mind what the county could do here.”
Officials strolled through the empty building, examining its 30 rooms and facilities and taking note of cracks in the floor and water damage that has formed a large paint bubble hanging from a portion of the ceiling.
The county, which owns the building, had leased it to the San Benito Hospital District for about $1 per year for the convalescent hospital. Since the hospital district moved patients early this month from Southside to the recently completed William and Inez Mabie Skilled Nursing Facility, officials have considered using the building for the county’s needs.
After the tour, the Board reconvened and directed staff to prepare a more detailed proposal for further discussion by Feb. 11.
“We want you to develop a plan on who would occupy the building and come back with a report,” Board Chairman Richard Scagliotti said.
Renovating the facility is expected to cost much less than demolishing the current one and constructing a new one.
“A new building would cost four times as much as a renovation,” Solorio said.
He said the preliminary study has already indicated at least one department that could benefit from the renovation.
“Probably the first department that would go in there would be Planning,” Solorio said. “The space (in the Planning Department) is very cramped.”
Funding for the renovations would not come out of the county’s general fund but could instead be paid for with a small portion of the approximately $7.5 million in securitization funds the county received as part of a tobacco settlement.
The money was part of the settlement in a class action lawsuit filed by 46 states against tobacco companies Philip Morris Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown and Williamson Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co.
California’s portion of the settlement was about $25 billion over 30 years, with the money disbursed to the state’s 58 counties.
However, the money from the tobacco settlement is considered as restricted funds and can only be used on capital improvements, which includes buying new equipment or the construction and repair of government buildings .
