Demolition instead of renovation at Ensign?

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- It may be easier to demolish Ensign Intermediate School

and start from scratch rather than merely repair the existing facility,

district officials said.

Ensign is part of the district’s effort to identify and come up with

plans to upgrade its crumbling schools. An architect’s report released

earlier this year showed a need for $127 million in school improvements,

including $3.8 million to renovate Ensign.

After revisiting nearly all of the schools and checking every nook and

cranny, Mike Fine, assistant superintendent for financial services, told

school board members that “the facility in the worst condition is Ensign,

by far.”

When it comes down to the bottom line, the $3.8 million estimated for

Ensign’s renovation was much too low, he said.

Fine asked architects to come back with the cost of building a new

campus, saying that after what he saw, he felt the price tag would be

comparable.

The notion that it may be more cost-effective to tear down Ensign did not

come as a surprise to several school board members.

“I’m very much aware of the need at Ensign,” said school board member

Judith Franco, who is also a PTA board member at the school. “People

should go take a tour of the stairwells that are blocked off because the

walls are crumbling and unsafe -- or the whole crumbling wall in the

library that leaks.”

Built 50 years ago, Ensign is not the oldest school in the district, but

it may be the most poorly designed.

What was discovered, said school board member Martha Fluor, was the

configuration of the school has made any expansion nearly impossible.

“They have 11,000 or 12,000 students -- the same as three of our high

schools -- and they have only one gym. The high schools all have two,”

Fluor said.

Officials haven’t even started to figure out what they would do with all

of those students if they decided to tear down and rebuild the school.

But Franco said demolishing the school just may be the best decision.

“I think it all hinges on cost analysis,” she said. “If it is close, it

would make more sense to design a school for the year 2000 and beyond.”

Supt. Robert Barbot agreed, saying the decision on Ensign’s future will

be based on what is best for the students, as well as cost-effectiveness.

After the initial surprise wore off, board members raised the question of

whether there were any other schools that might need to be rebuilt.

Many other facilities, including Whittier Elementary School, have

components that need to be replaced. But most are leased portable

classrooms, Fine said.

The only exception is Monte Vista School, which currently houses Back Bay

High School for independent studies and continuing education. If the

district chooses to reopen Monte Vista as an elementary school, the

building’s condition does justify being rebuilt, Fine said.

If that happens, officials said they would rebuild on the other side of

campus, keeping Monte Vista open during construction, Fine said.

Fine said as he and his team scoured the schools, they found more

problems that needed to be addressed than were included in the

architect’s original report.

“We are identifying more things in detail on repeat visits and know that

some money amounts will change,” Fine said.

However, he said he is unsure how much the total cost may vary from the

estimated $127 million.