The Times Standard ran a story this morning regarding sale of our Garberville Instructional Site.  Yes it is true. We finalized the sale of the Garberville Instructional Site with the Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District (SHCHD) for $1.1 million late yesterday afternoon.

The sale of the property is beneficial to both the College and SHCHD. The sale will eliminate an on-going budget deficit regarding the site since continued poor enrollment resulted in annual operating losses and ongoing negative impact on our budget. The sale will also give us funds to reinvest in capital projects throughout our District.

SHCHD will benefit because we made real property available to the hospital for expanded medical services, including a new hospital. I know that Matt Rees, Chief Executive Officer of SHCHD, is excited about this opportunity to work with us to provide new healthcare opportunities to the Southern Humboldt community,

It is important to know that we want to continue to have an appropriate educational presence in Southern Humboldt. We will have the option to lease classroom space at the site should demand for course offerings increase in the future.  As Bruce Emad, President of our Board of Trustees said recently “The College of the Redwoods Board of Trustees and administration are very pleased with the sale of the Garberville site to the Hospital District. We look forward to our continued provision of educational services in Southern Humboldt.”

I want to thank the gardeners, custodians and construction staff for maintaining the site over the years. I appreciate Prudence Ratliff for offering classes at the site over the past few years. Special thanks go to our Board of Trustees for their fiduciary leadership and commitment to the Southern Humboldt community.