Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Michelle Horton Officials are studying what to do with the boarded-up Spartan Village on South Campus.

SJSU and the city of San Jose are drafting a plan for the development of the university's South Campus and its surrounding areas.

Since last year, the university and the city have considered creating more athletic fields, which is one of the land-use ideas for South Campus, said Tony Valenzuela, associate vice president of Facilities, Development and Operations.

SJSU and the city had previously collaborated on the construction of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library.

Part of South Campus is Spartan Village, located near the corner of 10th and Humboldt streets.

Built in the mid-1980s, Spartan Village was a former apartment for students, including student athletes, due to its proximity to athletic facilities, Valenzuela said.

South Campus is the home of Spartan Stadium as well as a football practice field, an intramural sports field, a baseball diamond, a softball diamond and a track.

Spartan Village closed after the spring 2005 semester, Valenzuela said, due to the opening of Campus Village, the apartments and suites located on the main campus.

The Spartan Village buildings, with their boarded-up windows, still remain at the site.

Austin Carter, a junior sociology major, said he sees Spartan Village regularly, since he uses the Park and Ride shuttle, which drops off people at South Campus. Carter said he also lives in a nearby apartment.

"I think they bring down the property value around there," Carter said. "They need to do something immediately."

Carter suggested that the residences should either be demolished to make room for more parking spaces or reopened for incoming students.

Valenzuela said there aren't any plans to reopen Spartan Village.

During summer 2005, though, Spartan Village was used to house students before the opening of Campus Village, he said. Valenzuela also said people displaced by Hurricane Katrina were housed in Spartan Village during that summer.

President Don W. Kassing, while in a news conference, said that a South Campus proposal he is interested in is to build more faculty housing.

Campus Village Building A houses some faculty and staff members.

Continued...

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