The Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) board unanimously approved the City of Palo Alto’s purchase of seven acres of the Cubberley Community Center property for $65.5 million on Oct. 8 during a board meeting. The city plans to build a new community center on the property.
Located in South Palo Alto, PAUSD owns 27 of the 35 acres of the Cubberley Community Center property, while the city owns the remaining eight acres. With this purchase, the city will now own 15 acres.
The Cubberley Community Center is home to various local groups, including the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, after school programs, Mandarin Chinese classes and private artist studios.
The buildings currently in use, including the theater and gym, have not been well maintained, PAUSD Superintendent Don Austin said. The property’s underground systems, such as plumbing and electrical, are old and will require significant work by the city, he added.
The property was once the campus of the former Ellwood P. Cubberley High School and was converted into a community center in 1990.
“The community center right now is in such horrible shape that things are falling off the walls, and there was an arson last year that burned a couple of classrooms,” Deborah Simon, the chair of Friends of Cubberley, said. Redevelopment “would be huge for the community and local groups.”
Friends of Cubberley was established five years ago as a volunteer organization in response to a Palo Alto Weekly article encouraging community involvement in the redevelopment.
“South Palo Alto has been deprived of a nice community center,” Simon said. “Our goal is that the community center becomes a beautiful place for all the organizations to grow and to provide their services.”
Discussions about rebuilding the community center have been ongoing for decades, according to Austin. In 2019, the planning firm Concordia launched and shared their proposal for the property with the city and the district. However, the effort fell short as the district could not legally fund the plan because it did not directly relate to educational purposes.
Despite the failure, the redevelopment effort persisted, and the city expressed their desire to purchase the property to build a community center in the last few years.
“After many years of community interest in the City being able to own enough land to proceed with rebuilding and renovation of the Cubberley Community Center, City and PAUSD officials successfully concluded negotiations with a joint plan that paves the way to stronger schools and a vibrant community center at Cubberley for all Palo Alto residents,” Meghan Horrigan-Taylor, the city’s chief communication officer, said.
Since the district is required to use the proceeds for capital improvements, these funds will be allocated to future construction projects and updates of existing buildings.
“We were able to speak real directly and problem solve, and help each other problem solve for what both sides needed,” Austin said. “We saw the importance of having a resolution to this and we thought if it was ever going to happen, it needed to happen now.”
The next stage in the redevelopment process involves the city developing a plan for the new community center to present to Palo Alto voters, who will ultimately decide whether to authorize the purchase in November 2026. The city will engage with the community and the current organizations at the center during the planning process, Horrigan-Taylor said.
“Building on the 2019 plan, the city will re-engage with the community to confirm that what was previously learned is still relevant today, while adjusting the plan to meet current needs,” she said.
The school district will not be involved in the discussions regarding the property plan, according to Austin.
“The interest is going to shift now to the city in trying to build a campaign for a bond and to identify what they plan to do with the property,” Austin said. “We would love to see something really nice going there for the community.”
