July 15, 1994 Contact: Jim Burns or Robert Irion (408/459-2495)

UC REGENTS ACCEPT CONVEYANCE OF FORT ORD PROPERTY; UC SANTA CRUZ MOVES AHEAD WITH PLANS FOR COLLABORATIVE CENTER AT THE SITE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--The conveyance of 962 acres of federal land at Ford Ord to the University of California, accepted today (Friday, July 15) by UC's Board of Regents, sets the stage for a vital base-reuse project to proceed in earnest: UC's multi-institutional center for science, technology, education, and policy, known as the "STEP center."

Project leaders at UC Santa Cruz will now develop detailed plans for the physical use of the land, as well as business and programmatic plans for the collaborative complex they envision. Many public and private agencies already have expressed interest in the center, which is intended to foster economic redevelopment in the region and to help California and the nation address some of the critical issues--particularly coastal and environmental concerns-- they will face in the decades to come.

The center will be located on a site adjacent to base land the Department of the Army has conveyed to the California State University system for the purposes of developing a new CSU campus.

"We look forward to the opportunities this unique arrangement provides for the reuse of military facilities for the economic, social, and technological well-being of the region, the state, and the nation," says UC President Jack W. Peltason. "In its role as a research university, the University of California has been a major force in the state's economy. California will further profit by this new and exciting enterprise which combines the resources and expertise of UC, the California State University, the Department of Defense, other federal and state agencies, and private business."

"The university is indebted to the efforts of Congressman Sam Farr to make this opportunity a reality," says Chancellor Karl S. Pister of UCSC. "We feel strongly that we have the place, the people, and a vision--all solidly founded in the attributes of the Monterey Bay Area. We are eager to move ahead to demonstrate to the state and the nation how base conversion can be accomplished."

Farr's predecessor, newly named White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, and State Senator Henry Mello, who authored state legislation establishing the Fort Ord Reuse Authority, also have played key roles as reuse plans for the military base have been developed, Pister noted. State Assemblyman Bruce McPherson's support has also been critical to the success of the base conversion effort, the chancellor said.

The initial planned conveyance to UC includes about 400 acres of developable land next to Fritzsche Air Field, along Reservation Road. One usable structure sits on this property: the base's former flight-simulator building, which contains offices and will serve as on-site headquarters for the STEP center. No other changes will occur on the rest of the land until project planners prepare an environmental impact report and solicit public comment.

In addition, the property conveyed to UC will feature about 530 acres of some of the richest coastal chaparral in California. Many rare plant and animal species inhabit this land, located just over a mile from Monterey Bay. These habitats will be preserved as open space for teaching and research under the auspices of UC's Natural Reserve System and the Campus Reserve System of UC Santa Cruz.

"This land will be an exquisite addition to the UC and Campus Reserve systems--it contains unique vegetation not found in any of the other reserves," says Margaret Fusari, natural reserve coordinator at UCSC. Fusari's office will oversee the care of the land, in collaboration with the federal Bureau of Land Management and the state parks system. She proposes to work with the UCSC Arboretum to propagate some of the rare and endangered species of plants on the property.

UCSC's visions for Fort Ord have progressed steadily since the idea for the STEP center was developed more than two years ago. As now conceived, the center would draw upon the scientific expertise assembled near Monterey Bay, in Silicon Valley, throughout the UC system, and in the national laboratories administered by UC. Many of its program areas would reflect the unique natural assets of the bay and the region.

"There may never be as good an opportunity for UCSC to collaborate with research groups, government agencies, and private industry," says James Gill, associate vice chancellor for research and director of UCSC's Fort Ord project. "That's why there is such excitement about this project, both here and in Washington, D.C."

Although UCSC will administer the center initially, Gill emphasizes that it will require significant participation from other institutions to thrive: "This is not a place at which UC will build buildings or provide classroom instruction in the near term. The ability to create jobs and to stimulate the economy will be a function of the region's ability to attract agencies, businesses, and investment to the site."

The Department of Defense has proclaimed the region's overall blueprint for Fort Ord as one of four "model projects" nationally for the conversion of former military bases to civilian uses. CSU- Monterey Bay, with its planned emphases on marine and environmental sciences, language and culture, and education, forms the other cornerstone of the reuse plan and complements the STEP center in numerous ways.

"The Monterey Bay region is being recognized as an emerging center for marine and environmental sciences," says Lora Lee Martin, the project's director of program and policy development. "We plan to develop a truly integrated research complex to take advantage of those strengths, create new jobs for the region, and develop new products."

As UC's plans have matured, several areas of research and potential product development have come into focus. They include the following:

-- Global environmental change, especially in coastal regions. Participants would develop new ways to monitor the world's oceans, biosphere, and atmosphere; analyze data rapidly; and predict the possible effects of climate change.

-- Environmental restoration and management. Fort Ord, which is on the federal "superfund" list, is one of twenty sites chosen by the Western Governors Association for the demonstration of new environmental technologies. Special challenges include volatile compounds in aquifers and munitions, and heavy metals in soils.

-- Agriculture and aquaculture. The site is surrounded by equally rich farmland and sea. The future health of the region's economy, the center's planners say, depends critically upon learning how to sustain these harvests.

-- Bioresources. The bay and its surrounding coastal habitats contain one of the world's richest and most diverse collections of species. Biologists would study how to preserve that diversity and search for possible human benefits, such as new drugs and foods.

-- Transportation and energy. Engineers would explore electric vehicles, "smart" highway systems, and other methods of reducing the environmental problems caused by society's reliance on fossil fuels.

-- Language and culture. Higher-education leaders signed an agreement in May to form a Center for Intensive Language and Culture in the Monterey Bay region. Further collaboration with experts at the UC center and CSU-Monterey Bay promises to bring world prominence to the region in these fields.

Participants would concentrate on several dimensions within each of those areas. For instance, information technology will become critical to connect researchers at a distance and to transfer huge amounts of data. Already, researchers at several local institutions are forging such links--with help from federal grants and agencies such as Pacific Bell--to develop the site's potential as a major intersection on the information superhighway. Scientific instrumentation will be another focus; planners expect an industry to emerge in the area for the design and manufacture of sophisticated sensors for marine, atmospheric, and earth sciences.

Education and public policy are two other important components. For example, students at both CSU and UCSC will have access to the center's resources to enhance their degree programs. Other participants will create new ways of training teachers and educating the general public about the environment. Scientists, social scientists, and engineers from all of the member groups will consider the economic and environmental policy implications of their work.

UC's Fort Ord project team is now in the midst of a two-year planning phase to define the scope of the project, says L. Edwin Coate, vice chancellor for business and administrative services, whose office is overseeing the physical, environmental, and business planning for the project. The group has contracted with Sedway Cooke Associates, an urban and environmental planning and design firm from San Francisco, to develop a master plan of land-use guidelines for the STEP center.

"Given our vision of the project and the constraints of the site, the master plan will guide us on how to accommodate our program and respect the landscape," says Michael Houlemard, director of physical and environmental planning for the project. A public hearing will be scheduled to solicit comments on the master plan.

UC's Fort Ord project team participates in meetings of the newly established Fort Ord Reuse Authority by sending an ex officio member. As the project evolves, planners will work with other jurisdictions affected by the project, such as the City of Marina and the County of Monterey.

To support this preliminary work on the STEP center, UCSC has received $725,000 from a federal Department of Commerce grant to Monterey County and several hundred thousand dollars from state and local contributions.

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