Los Altos Measure A would locate a new and expanded community center building and pool complex on the two combined old school sites — San Antonio and Hillview
A short history of the Hillview/San Antonio School parcels
Hillview School was built on land purchased in 1946 as an additional school behind the splendid mission-style two-story school that stood on S. San Antonio Road on 4.5 acres since 1910. After closing as a school in 1956, the San Antonio school was used as Los Altos School District offices till the building was ruled structurally unsafe (1970s) and demolished. Somewhat later, Alain Pinel Real Estate built their neo-mission-style two-story office building on the footprint of the old San Antonio School building.
For 10 years right after WWII, there were TWO PUBLIC SCHOOLS operating next to each other on a SINGLE SITE. Imagine that! The combined school population must have been well over 1000 on the Hillview/San Antonio parcel. [After WWII the Department of Education placed a cap of 800 students on K-8 schools.] In 1949 the LASD attendance areas were rejiggered, placing K-3 grades in four neighborhood schools — Hillview, Loyola, Portola and Purrisima — and grades 4-8 at the San Antonio school. Imagine that! Youngsters in grades 4,5,6 were intermixed with nasty, young teens in grades 7 and 8. Parents in those days sure must have been tough, being able to roll with all those attendance area redraws !
See LASD website: http://losaltos.k12.ca.us/District/1167-History.html
City buys parcels, parcels gets a shave
Let’s recall that in 1973, the Los Altos School District was in financial crisis due to the oil-shock recession and demographic collapse of the birth rate. The then board of trustees voted to sell off or lease three schools — Eastbrook in the unincorporated hills, Portola (near Egan School), and Hillview. In those days, the Hillview parcels might have been sold for tract homes or an affordable housing project. But the City refused to rezone the parcels as urged by the LASD board of trustees. After months of holding out on the rezoning, the City was able to buy them. The city sold off the end portions of the parcels in order to finance the purchase. Zero dollars in new taxes. The eventual development result — Alain Pinel office building at the San Antonio end, several new homes along the end at E. Edith and Cielito.
City keeps promise of growth suppression
As of 1973 the Hillview & Hawthorne area was mainly populated with many aging, 1920’s tiny 2-bedroom cottages on large lots with a few old stately homes mixed in. The city’s purchase of the San Antonio/Hillview school parcels effectively blocked a multi-tenant affordable housing project right next to City Hall and the Smith History House! In recent decades, the cottages have been torn down and new, spacious multi-million dollar homes have been built on the large lots of this leafy neighborhood close to downtown. The gentrification of this neighborhood would have been unlikely if the affordable project had succeeded in being built in the 1970’s. The City was well on its way towards reducing the economic diversity of its residents.
