I've often speculated about the De Avila Elementary school on Haight street. It has a striking facade, vibrant and colorful, but it seemed to sit empty, abandoned. Turns out the elementary school was axed by the Board of Education after the 2004 - 2005 school year, in an effort to close the $22 million dollar budget deficit. The campus was designed to hold 500 students, but only had 150 enrolled in '04 - '05. Last academic year, Aim High Academy, a school for underprivileged, homeless and “at-risk” sixth graders , occupied the DeAvila building, but has since moved to another location.

The facility will soon fill with students again, but of a different age-group. According to the Haight Ashbury Beat, "As early as January 2007, a portion of City College’s soon-to-be-renovated John Adams campus will move, temporarily, to the De Avila school building at 1351 Haight St."

I wonder how how long 'temporarily' will be. I've written before about my desire to see a centralizing locale for theatre and performance art. The De Avila School, centered squarely in one of San Francisco's most artistically vibrant neighborhoods and easily accessible by MUNI, is the perfect candidate.