Chapter 8: The Long Journey to Find and Fund a Campus Site (Summary)

Chapter 8: The Long Journey to Find and Fund a Campus Summary Introduction After the District was approved by the voters in December 1965, the new Board of Trustees set out to find a site for a permanent campus and pass a bond to fund the construction. This turned out to be a complicated endeavor. Some readers will be interested in the many details of the people and politics involved. However, many readers may prefer a general overview. Thus, two chapters will be devoted to this topic. Chapter 8 will be a condensed version of the process and Chapter 9 will provide the full detail. First Bond Attempt The landmark California Master Plan for Higher Education enacted in 1960 called for no-cost universal access to higher education for all Californians. As a result, numerous new Cal State and junior college campuses were built in the 1960s. Land speculation and business opportunities for municipalities, realtors, architects and construction firms were plentiful. From 1959 to 1964 the South County Junior College District (SCJCD) (Chabot College), spearheaded by the cities and school districts of Hayward and San Leandro went through the complete cycle of district formation, starting classes at a temporary location, passing a construction bond measure, and building a permanent campus. The new Fremont-Newark Junior College Trustees hoped to follow the same fast track path. Bonds, sites and architects were on the Board meeting agendas from the beginning. At their first full working session in January 1966, the Trustees received three communications that gave early signals of the major issues that would dominate the journey to build a permanent campus: the chairman of the District formation campaign reported a $108 surplus in the 1965 campaign fund and requested it be held to support an eventual construction bond campaign; there was a letter from a local realtor proposing a campus site; and an architectural firm submitted a request for consideration in a campus project. Hoping to follow the lead of the Chabot College experience, the Trustees wanted to find a site, pass a bond, set up temporary buildings on the site and start classes in September 1966 while construction got underway. However, after receiving input from local and state school construction experts, including their Chabot College