The San Diego City Council on Tuesday voted to preserve San Diego High School by approving a new 99-year lease with San Diego Unified School District.
SDHS serves some 2,500 students from throughout the city.
The 139-year-old campus has been nationally recognized for its top-ranked International Baccalaureate diploma program, has a very active alumni association and is one of the district's most used sites for community, recreational and public activities.
Many alumni and current students called into the council meeting to request the lease renewal.
"San Diego High has always been intertwined with the history of San Diego and Balboa Park, and now we can stay where we've always belonged, allowing students to grow and thrive in the heart of the city," said Principal Francisca Del Carmen-Aguilar.
The new lease allows San Diego Unified to start a multi-phase modernization of the campus, the district said.
It will include a new campus entrance, a revitalized central campus quad and various other campus-wide improvements and renovations.
