What does every cash-strapped urban school district need? You guessed it: one of the costliest schools in the country! That’s right, all you public education naysayers, LAUSD plans to build a performing arts school at the site LAUSD’s former headquarters on Grand Ave. downtown. As a piece of the Grand Avenue project, this new 1700 student school will come at the bargain price of $208 million. Grand Avenue project booster and billionaire Eli Broad has backed $5 million of the cost of the school to build himself a shrine to ensure that downtown gets a school that it so desperately needs and wants.
In 2002, Broad committed $1.9 million for the school's operational budget. And last year, after being approached by Superintendent Roy Romer and former board member Jose Huizar, he contributed $3.1 million to ensure the construction of a 150-foot tower that serves no functional purpose but is key to the concrete building's stark design. Viennese architect Wolf Prix of Coop Himmelblau will design the campus that will be dedicated to having a performing arts school in the “entertainment capital of the world.” The performing arts school will also include a free-standing library and a theater. Soon Debbie Allen will be tapped for the job of principal.
· L.A.'s Costliest School [L.A. Daily News]