By Linda Taaffe

Financial uncertainties could delay the construction of the city-owned gym planned for Egan Intermediate School indefinitely.

An anticipated $2 million grant from a local foundation for construction costs could be cut in half due to the recent economic downturn, and money from the sale of the city’s former sewage treatment property is on hold until the property sells, city staff said last week.

The Los Altos City Council agreed to bid the project early next month in order to keep the window of opportunity for such a project open as long as possible, but did not commit to awarding a bid until the city’s financial picture becomes clearer. The city must bid the project now in order to meet the Los Altos School District’s construction schedule for campus upgrades. The gym project is already four weeks behind the scheduled timeline, which could lead to excessive concurrent construction activity on one site, according to city staff.

“There’re quite a few unknowns,” City Public Works Director Jim Porter told the council. “The assumptions that we made earlier are not here anymore. Conditions have changed.”

Porter said the city had anticipated $2 million in community donations and another $4.5 million from the sale of a former sewer treatment plant to fund the projects. The plant property has not sold, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation could withdraw half of the anticipated grant money later this week.

Superintendent Marge Gratiot urged the council to move forward if financially possible. She said all exterior gymnasium work should be finished by the time the planned school upgrades begin at the end of next year.

“It’s important for both schools to be equitable and have gyms for kids on both sides of town,” Gratiot said. “… In five years there will be a new council with new priorities.”

In summer 1999, the city initially asked the Los Altos School District to reserve space at Egan and Blach junior high school campuses for the possible construction of a joint-use gym at each site. Under such an arrangement, the district would provide the land and the city would pay for the building of two full-size gyms with enough space for a regulation basketball court and spectator bleachers.

School construction delays at Egan earlier this year meant less campus activity through the end of 2002, providing the city an opportunity to build both gyms concurrently with possible cost savings, City Manager Phil Rose said.

The accelerated schedule, however, created a need for more immediate funding.

The city awarded a $2.7 million bid for the Blach project last September.

Mayor Francis La Poll said he would call a special meeting to re-prioritize the city budget, if necessary, to find a source of money for the gym.

“I would rather do something significant for the city than a lot of smaller things,” he said.