By Luis Diaz
South Gate Center expansion delay caused search for a temporary location as the lease is coming to an end at the current location.
The South Gate campus is in a race against time as the current location’s lease ends June 30. This comes as there has been a delay in the expansion being built across the street and has seen delays due to rain and not taking into account the conditions.
In the leasing agreement, ELAC owned the current location where all the South Gate classes are being held. While building the new expansion, the current building was sold to a charter school. The plan was to lease the facility once again while the new expansion was being built. In the process, the leasing agreement doesn’t extend the lease. The charter school has a timeline where the charter school has to do some retrofitting and prepare the building for instruction.
“Adjacent to the problem because of the recent rains of the last winter, the construction got delayed for the expansion. It was extremely wet and rainy. They didn’t take into account the days missed,” said Vice President of Administration Michael Pascual.
ELAC has to vacate the South Gate campus by June. Nothing has been officially set in stone, but there are plans where discussions have been held with LAUSD to lease for summer session and also for the fall semester 2024.
There have also been talks into leasing in other places around the area, but the goal is always to stay close.
“What’s probably going to happen is some classes will transition into online. Labs will stay in person because of the material needed. There will be more hours in the evening for the part time students. We are capturing everything and taking into account all the students needed,” said Pascual.
Keeping everything around the area is a priority because what is also taken into account is the mode of transportation from the students. Among the discussions, the transportation has been discussed to the point where the ELAC shuttles that go from the South Gate campus to the main campus will double up .
The timeline for the new expansion is to be open by spring 2025. Summer and fall will be done through Zoom or at a different location. There is nothing set in stone at this moment in time, but it will be announced in the upcoming months.
“If the expansion is open by fall, then most likely we will be at the new campus or if not maybe by winter, but fingers crossed, by spring it will be 100%,” said Pascual.