Funding slashed for SF plan to build a $400 million arts center and high school

The reallocation of the bond will also help pay for $10 million in security improvements at various sites; $15 million toward the design of a new school in Mission Bay; $1 million for portable air cleaners; $14 million for schoolyard improvements; and $20 million for planning and design of additional schools and other district facilities in the Bayview area.

The 2016 measure approved by voters authorized $744 million in bonds for facilities improvements, including the $100 million for the art school, which remains unused.

The decision disappointed supporters of a new site for Ruth Asawa School of the Arts at a former high school near City Hall. The plan also includes an art center for all district students. The Asawa school is currently located at the site of the former Eugene McAteer High School near Diamond Heights.

The project, however, would require seismic and other upgrades to the Spanish Colonial Revival building at 135 Van Ness Ave., with a total estimated cost of $400 million. Supporters and district officials have said the project would primarily be paid for with philanthropic donations, but so far, that money hasn’t been raised.

The Van Ness property takes up a block of prime real estate in the center of the city and in the arts district, but now houses only school district administrative offices.

The measure passed by the board will prioritize the new art school in a future bond and directs staff to develop a realistic timeline to raise the outside funding for the project.

Supporters urged the board to keep some bond funding available for the art center and school, as approved by voters, to keep the project on the table.

“Regrettably, I’m here this evening to speak about how disappointed I am,” former school board member Jill Wynns said prior to the board’s vote. “That was a promise for the people of San Francisco to fulfill the 30-year dream of the school district, for the community to create the best public arts high school in the Civic Center.”

“Redirecting the funding and proposing to take all of this, you are responsible for damaging the effort.”