New Plans for Old Santa Barbara Armory 

For decades, the old armory on Canon Perdido Street has gathered dust.

The Santa Barbara Unified School District bought it eight years ago, but planning for the site stalled — until now. 

Last week, district officials discussed plans to turn the 27,000-square-foot landmark — situated between Santa Barbara Junior High and Santa Barbara High School — into a career and technical education (CTE) center.  

Built in 1935 for the National Guard, the armory saw diminished military use after the 1960s. Roughly half a dozen national guardsmen remained assigned to the site through about 2015, but it was underutilized. Besides the occasional community event, sandbag station, or sports tournament, it’s seen little action in the years following. 

Since purchasing it in 2018, the district has been trying to figure out what to do with the place. Acquisition of the armory involved a lengthy process with the state and $11.6 million of Measure I bond funds. 

These funds were set aside specifically for the site, to consider it for specialized programming or as a satellite facility, but it was never meant to be “a comprehensive school location,” said Steve Venz, the district’s chief operations officer. 

Environmental concerns (lead dust leftover from previous operations, for one) and the site’s historic significance have complicated planning for the site. It’s been considered for teacher housing and other purposes over the years but nothing panned out. However, it may soon come out of limbo. 

Beginning in April, the district will hold public meetings to gather input on what community members envision for the space. 

But district officials see it as an opportunity to strengthen CTE pathways into the local workforce.  

“We can provide additional opportunities that might fit the need for jobs in our area,” said Boardmember Gabe Escobedo. “And we can keep our kids here, in a place where it is very expensive — where opportunities are sometimes hard to come by.” 

Phase one — planning, design, and outreach — is expected to run through June 2026, with renderings anticipated this summer. Construction, pending approval from the state Department of Education, would not begin until 2028, Venz said. After that, it would not be ready for students until at least 2030.

Not all buildings are fit for use. The large armory building on the east side of the property — which houses the gymnasium — would require seismic retrofitting and an “enormous” amount of money to make it habitable, Venz said. 

However, the four smaller buildings can be renovated or demolished, to potentially create 20 “substantial” classrooms for CTE students, he explained. The parking lot, he added, could be used for workforce housing or other facilities.

Visions for the possible CTE center vary: from expanding existing programs like culinary arts to creating new trade pathways or a centralized hub for student capstone projects.

Boardmember Celeste Kafri and public commenters worried that the district was jumping the gun. There are too many unanswered questions about future enrollment projections, existing facilities, and funding to move forward with a set plan for the armory, Kafri said. 

“Right now, when I see the armory presentation, it’s very exciting, but it’s in isolation,” Kafri said. “I’m not opposed to the armory, but I think we need to take two steps back,” adding that they should have a “really cohesive plan” prior to going forward. 

Lanny Ebenstein, a former school boardmember who now teaches economics at UC Santa Barbara, recounted decades of effort by the school district and past boards to acquire the armory. He suggested the district might be moving “a little bit quick,” and “after all these decades, there would be a strong community response” to any decision. 

But, he told the Independent, he supports the CTE center. He said that the armory was “truly a great acquisition” by the district. 

“I believe that career and technical education — in cooperation with Santa Barbara City College — would be an excellent use of the armory,” he said. “I also support athletic fields on the side of the armory closest to Santa Barbara Junior High and the closure of De la Guerra Street between the junior high and armory for use of this area for recreational purposes.”

Current CTE teacher John Dent, who teaches media at Dos Pueblos, said the idea of a CTE facility was exciting in 2018 when the district first acquired the armory. But the high schools have since expanded their own career academies, which are now operating in modern facilities. He noted that a project of the armory’s scale will require millions of dollars and long-term operational commitments.

“The armory is a once-in-a-lifetime project,” he said. “We need to carefully examine whether building a separate regional CTE center is still the best approach.”

Alice Post with the Coalition for Neighborhood Schools suggested the site could be used as an elementary school, filling a gap in the number of downtown schools in the district.

But nothing is set in stone, yet. “Listening tours” at the four junior highs are scheduled for the coming months to garner input on potential services for the site, to inform the “instructional vision,” which will then guide facility design and construction planning, Venz said. The district must also figure out how it would fund operations and staff at the site.