Hollister
– Gavilan College officials have selected the northeast corner
of Fairview and Airline Highway as the site for the school’s new
satellite campus in San Benito County.
Hollister – Gavilan College officials have selected the northeast corner of Fairview and Airline Highway as the site for the school’s new satellite campus in San Benito County.
The board of trustees for the college is expected to take action on the purchase of the 80-acre property at its May 8 meeting, after hearing a general response from the public.
Officials say the land was selected because it was the best option available that met the college’s needs in terms of size and proximity to town.
“A lot of it was a process of elimination,” Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella said. “This really looks like a good site for us, and it seems to be the most viable.”
Kinsella said he is eager to move on from the selection phase so that planning can begin for the campus and the courses that will be offered there.
“It’s been a very exhaustive search,” Kinsella said. “When you look at 16 properties, you wonder what will pass the scrutiny.”
The nearly three-year process of selecting the Hollister campus met with much public criticism.
After the initial campus location – near the Hollister airport – was rejected by much of the Hollister community, school officials began looking for other options, narrowing their choices to 16 parcels of land in December of 2006.
One of the complaints about the airport location was that it was not centrally located.
Some think this choice – across Airline Highway from Ridgemark Golf and Country Club – is not much better.
“I think the community would be better served by having a community college as close to downtown as possible,” Hollister resident Christine Breen said. “It would be nice if it was something that was accessible to a majority of the community by walking or biking or alternatives to vehicles. My fear is by putting it on the edge of town it doesn’t offer that opportunity.”
While board members and college officials said they also hoped to get a plot close to town, Kinsella said that this location was the closest they could get while still meeting size needs.
The campus plot needed to be at least 80 acres in order for the state to recognize the campus as a full college site, Kinsella said.
Hollister resident Tony Ruiz, who taught at Gavilan College for 30 years, said he thinks the Airline Highway location would be inaccessible for residents who live in the western part of the county.
“They’re going in the wrong direction as far as I’m concerned. Why would anybody from the San Juan Bautista part of the county go there, when they can easily go to the Gilroy campus?” he said.
Gavilan College Board of Trustees member Kent Child said that although he wished that there had been larger pieces of land available near downtown, he thinks the site at the corner of Fairview and Airline Highway would be a good location for the college.
“We feel that it’s located in the general area where the growth will be in the future,” Child said.
The purchase price of the land, which is being sold by Fairview Corners Dividend Homes Property, will be disclosed on May 4, according to the college.
The campus site will be purchased with state Measure E funds. Gavilan has $12.7 million in Measure E finds for its Hollister campus.
If the property is approved by the board for purchase, the college will initiate its due diligence process, which could take up to two years. This process allows the board to study the land in terms of the seismic criteria, ecological impact and other important factors.
After the purchase, college officials and board will also begin brainstorming with the public on the architectural design and plans for the academic programs of the college.
Alice Joy covers education for the Free Lance. She can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 336 or at [email protected].
