The city of Encinitas bought the beach bluff top Pacific View School site from the school district for $10 million after a long period of negotiation. The city financed the purchase with a $10 million bond last year. Council members then selected Encinitas Arts, Culture and Ecology Alliance to negotiate a lease agreement to manage the site.
In preparation for negotiations with the city later this month, the nonprofit group shared its plans at an Engage Encinitas forum last Thursday. Their vision is to bring business, arts, technology and nature together at the site.
Alliance president Garth Murphy said development plans include sustainable solar electricity, organic gardens, rain water collection and drip irrigation systems.
“It's going to be everything that we should be doing,” Murphy said. “We're calling it a 'showcase' because we want it to be a place that every time you go there you see something new, you learn something new, and it's exciting.”
Murphy said the first step is to secure a lease with the city, then fundraising will begin to raise $2 million to renovate the neglected building and put in gardens. The group hopes to have the lease finalized and begin fundraising by January.
So far the 54-member nonprofit is gathering community support and soliciting promises to help see the project through.
“We're hoping everyone will find something in the project that they can like,” Murphy said. “We'd love to have it funded with $20 dollars each from 60,000 people, instead of $60,000 from 20 people. That to us would be great.”
The Encinitas City Council unanimously voted to select the group for negotiations. Councilman Tony Kranz was at the Thursday night presentation and said he expects the lease agreement to be unanimously approved.
Promise Yee is a North County freelance writer. Contact her at promise.yee1@gmail.com. Twitter: @promisenews. Facebook: promise.yee.1.
