Chapman University has agreed to pay the Orange (Calif.) Unified School District $3.7 million for the former Lydia D. Killefer School in Orange.
The Daily Pilot reports that the school board's approval of the sale drew a mixed response from residents who were pleased to hear university officials’ plan to restore the building, but are also concerned that the acquisition will expand Chapman’s footprint.
The Spanish Colonial Revival schoolhouse was built in 1931 and represents a painful chapter in California history when Latino and white students were not allowed to attend the same schools.
A group of Latino families successfully fought school segregation in a court case that forced Orange County school districts to desegregate.
“The Killefer School is incredibly important to the history of Orange and of California,” Chapman University President Daniele Struppa says. “We look forward to bringing it back to life in a way that celebrates its history while creating an innovative new home for a Chapman department.”
Chapman hasn’t decided what academic department will move into the building.
The school district declared the 1.7-acre parcel surplus property in 2014 and held a public auction that attracted bids from Chapman and four housing developers who wanted to build apartments on the property. Various housing projects were essentially blocked after the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 2014.
Chapman has installed a plaque commemorating the building’s history, installed a bookcase with alumni memorabilia, and has invited the Orange Barrio Historical Society to hold board meetings at the restored schoolhouse. The majority of the building serves as an office for Chapman’s Early Human and Lifespan Development program and isn’t open to the public.
