Last year, the Pomona Unified School District opened the 650-student Pueblo Elementary School in one wing of the dying Plaza at Indian Hill. Now the district has bought a large part of the mall and will soon open two more elementary schools there. The opportunity was not quite as attractive in Santa Ana, where HomeBase simply wanted to improve its location in Bristol Market Place. Opponents of the project were uncomfortable with the idea of junior high students cavorting through a mall parking lot, and some thought a school could have been constructed elsewhere for less money. Another drawback is the size of the campus.
Students have a gym but a smaller athletic field area than is customary for a middle school.
The 12-acre campus is only about half the size recommended by state officials for a school of its enrollment. And now Avila says she is glad it is there. It was intended to encourage below-ground construction, multistory construction and joint occupancy in shopping centers, offices or apartment buildings. The program folded after funding only two schools. The Los Angeles Unified School District is developing the other one in conjunction with the California Science Center in Exposition Park.