L.A.'s Belmont School May be Reborn

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http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/nation/2846620.htm

Tue, Mar. 12, 2002

L.A.'s Belmont School May be Reborn

PAUL WILBORN

Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Board of Education voted Tuesday to revive

construction of the environmentally plagued Belmont Learning Complex, the

most expensive high school in the state and for the past two years a costly

embarrassment.

The school was supposed to be the crown jewel of the second-largest school

district in the nation: a towering complex of classrooms in the shadow of

downtown Los Angeles.

But the project was abandoned midway through construction two years ago when

it was revealed the site - a former oil field - contained dangerous levels

of methane gas and hydrogen sulfide.

At that point, the school district had already spent $154 million of its

$179 million budget.

On Tuesday, the school board voted 6-1 to hire a construction contractor and

estimated it would have to spend another $67 million to $80 million to

finish the job.

Residents and students who packed the board room downtown applauded the

decision. " I can't believe it is true, " said Gloria Soto, a Belmont parent.

" I'm going to go by and look at the school right now. "

The new construction plan calls for dangerous gases to be trapped by a thick

plastic membrane below the school, vented through a network of pipes and

monitored for any buildups. That feature alone will cost $15 million.

An independent panel of scientists, engineers and land-use experts who

studied the new plans say the school will be the safest site in a downtown

area that straddles a massive oil field.

But opponents say finishing the new school would put people who work and

live in the neighborhood needlessly at risk.

School board member Tokofsky said the school is too big and the site

still too controversial.

" Forget the petroleum issue, a school with 5,000 kids is educationally

toxic, " Tokofsky said.

Proponents of the project say the school is desperately needed to relieve

overcrowding in the poor, largely minority neighborhood it would serve just

west of downtown.

The old Belmont High School, located nearby, operates year-round. Designed

for 3,300 students, it serves 5,038. The high school population in the area

is expected to reach 10,000 in six years and Belmont could offer a place for

about 5,000.

" This is the quickest way I could get kids in seats, " said Superintendent

Roy Romer, the former governor of Colorado who took over Los Angeles schools

in July 2000.

Mayor Hahn, who spoke at Tuesday's meeting, was among those who

lobbied for its completion.

" I think we can do this in a timely way, in a fiscally responsible way and

in an environmentally way, " Hahn said. " I want to say let's move forward. "