October 2000 

Demolition of Montgomery Wards 1920's era 7.85 acre site is continuing...

It looks like the effort to halt the tearing down of the building will be to little to late, as the city council President Ignacio De La Fuente is at the forefront of this battle..and he has the school board as an ally...since the city owns the property, it looks like some action will occur sooner than later, the building is being sandblasted to rid it of the graffitti efforts of the local taggers..who are one step ahead of the sandblasters...it seems, they have spray painted there monikers on the plastic tarps that covered the windows on the top floors..no easy task...the shool board would like to see a 600 student school for kindergartners through fifth grade..

 By Laura Counts
 STAFF WRITER
Oakland Tribune

 OAKLAND -- Bulldozers and heavy machinery began chewing up the muddy rubble next to the old Montgomery Ward building in the Fruitvale District on Thursday to make way for a new elementary school -- despite a pending lawsuit by preservationists aimed at blocking the building's demolition.

 City and school officials -- many of them campaigning for re-election or the school district's bond measure -- gathered with neighborhood activists to cheer the start of construction and transfer of the 1920s-era building to the district.

 The officials signed documents that were largely ceremonial since actual title transfer of the property has not occurred. But that made no difference to a group of parents and children, members of Oakland Community Organizations, who view the graffiti-scarred building as a blight on the neighborhood that must be removed.

 The building looked the part Thursday, appearing especially bedraggled in the rain. The plan is to replace it with a school for 600 students that supporters say is desperately needed to relieve
 overcrowding in existing classrooms.

 The first phase involves clearing debris from a parking structure demolished several years ago, and getting rid of lead paint and asbestos in the structure.

 "We should be ready for demolition this summer," said school board member Jean Quan.  That depends on what happens with a lawsuit by the League for Protection of Oakland's Architectural and Historic Resources, which may go to trial this summer. The league argued the school district's environmental impact report was inadequate, and there was an environmentally superior alternative to demolishing the structure.

 A San Francisco developer had proposed restoring the building for 400 apartment units, and building a smaller school on top of an adjacent parking structure.

 Rose Zoia, the league's attorney, said the school district is proceeding with the construction work "at its own risk." She said all parties agreed at a settlement conference last week that nothing could be done to harm the building, and if preservationists win their suit, the project will go back to ground zero.

  City Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente (San Antonio-Fruitvale), who is running for reelection and has made the school project a pet issue, said there will be no settlement.

 "The only settlement is demolition," he said. "The city will continue to support preservation, but if you weigh this against children's education, there is no question."

 The school district plans to build a 600-student elementary school with expansive playing fields. Quan said the school could cost as much as $16 million, but the city may cover some of the cost for
 maintaining the fields.

 The district is counting on money from Measure A, its $303 million school bond, to fund construction. If it doesn't pass, the district will still build the school with borrowed funds, she said.