New Life For Beechwood School Expansion Plan

The city of Menlo Park is moving forward with a plan to sell an empty plot of land next to its campus, due in part as a response to demands from the community to allow the school to expand, said a city planner.

Advocates for the school's expansion have e-mailed the City Council to plead the case for the land to be sold to Beechwood, rather than be developed into an affordable housing site.

"Please allow Beechwood to purchase the land. I look forward to dozens more years volunteering at this wonderful school," Karen N. Mudurian, an assistant at the Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe law firm in Menlo Park wrote in an e-mail to the

Similar requests have been expressed at Planning Commission and City Council meetings, and through the city's Web site.

Initially the City Council rejected Beechwood's proposal to buy the land, because Habitat For Humanity had expressed interest in building 22 affordably priced units on the site. But the plan of Habitat For Humanity building the project fell through after the organization lost interest, which resurrected the possibility for the land to be sold to the school.

Douglas Frederick, Housing and Redevelopment Manager for City of Menlo Park, said the requests of the community factored into the city's willingness to give the Beechwood plan a second look.

"The community really, really wanted the school to expand," said Frederick. "It was really important to them."

Now the city and school are going through the process of re-appraising the value of the vacant lot, with the intention of moving forward with the sale, said Frederick.

Beechwood Principal David Laurance said he is excited to see the expansion moving forward after nearly three years.

"We're feeling very hopeful at this point," said Laurance, who gave credit to the support of members of both the City Council and community for pushing to see the sale and eventual expansion will come to fruition.

Beechwood is a k-8 non-profit school serving nearly 200 students from underprivileged communities in and near Menlo Park. It has been open since 1985.

Laurance said that should the appraisal process go smoothly and sale be finalized, the school would then begin a fundraising effort from its community to collect the $5 million to $10 million necessary to complete the expansion.

The expansion would include building a science lab and multipurpose building that would allow the school to accommodate its students, and remove the portable classrooms that are necessary now to handle its enrollment, said Laurance.

Under a best case scenario, the completion of the expansion is still nearly two years away, said Laurance,

Frederick also said the plan to build the housing that was initially slated for development near the campus is not dead either. Instead it is possible the project will be relocated nearby on Hamilton Avenue. The Hamilton project would be considerably larger, possibly between 200 to 240 units, ranging in possible style from townhomes to condominiums, said Frederick.

Frederick said, per standard for city developments, 15% of the project would be priced affordably. He said the plans for the development would allow for higher density housing than what was planned near Beechwood.

Councilwoman Kelly Fergussonn said she appreciates the service that Beechwood has provided to Menlo Park.

"Every kid, regardless of their socioeconomic background, or family income, deserves the opportunity to have a first class education," she said.

"Beechwood has a great track record of turning out students and college graduates who come back to Menlo Park as real contributors to our community."

She also said Menlo Park also has a great need for housing, especially with Facebook moving its headquarters to the city. Frederick said he believes the Hamilton Avenue location is a more desireable site for housing than the lot near Beechwood.