Belmont Learning Center

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This Belmont Learning Center contains information about a building currently under construction.
It may contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically and frequently as construction progresses and new information becomes available.

Belmont Learning Center, also known as the Vista Hermosa Learning Center, Central Los Angeles High School 11, and the City West project is a secondary school and park located at 1200 Colton Street in Los Angeles, California, United States.

BLC is a high school built to relieve Belmont High School. The school is at the intersection of West First Street and North Beaudry Avenue.

The school will become a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) when it opens in the fall of 2008.^[1]^[2]^[3] Belmont Learning Center is expected to accommodate approximately 2,100 students, this will alleviate enrollment at Belmont High which is currently 5,500 students.

[edit] History

The project to build the school began in 1988. The site of the school had previously been used for industrial purposes, and a concern of soil contamination was confirmed during development in 1999. This resulted in a temporary halt to construction.

Belmont or Vista Hermosa Learning Center under construction, corner of First St. and Beaudry Ave.

In December 2000 Superintendent Roy Romer^[4] saved the project and began reviewing private private bids to address the additional issues at the site. In 2002, "An Alliance for a Better Community" was selected to finish the project.

Further complicating the development, in September 2002 an earthquake fault was detected on the northeast portion of the plot. The project was again temporarily suspended.^[5]

In May 2003 the Los Angeles Unified School District voted to finish the school but with certain modifications: inclusion of a 10 to 12 acre (40,000 to 49,000 m²) park, a 500 seat learning academy, library, auditorium, and a parent center. These changes once completed resulting in one of the more luxurious schools of the urban sections of the district. The total project cost was then estimated at $300 million. Part of the construction funds are from a voter initiative bond of $3.3 billion called Measure K. City funds are supplying the rest. In December 2004 approximately 60 percent of the buildings were demolished because of the earthquake fault and then construction continued.