The Dos Pueblos Elings Center for Creative Learning had been in construction with Telacu Construction Management Company for upwards of six years. However, as of last Thursday, this construction contract has been terminated.

The issues that led to this termination began in early 2024, when the center experienced water intrusion, as a result of historically heavy rainfall in Southern California. The consequential damages delayed some of the progress that had been made.

The Chief Operations Officer for Santa Barbara Unified School District, Steve Venz, explained the steps taken towards repairments.

“We brought someone up from the Los Angeles area who was really highly qualified and well respected,” Venz said. “They came in, saw the massive leaks that were occurring, and then created a report … and with the record report and the architect giving feedback, we directed Telacu to do the remediation on it, to fix the problem.”

According to Venz, the building needed “substantial repairs” following the water intrusion.

“We had to make the unfortunate decision to basically take [the building] back down to the studs and redo it,” said Dos Pueblos High School Principal Bill Woodard. “We’re well behind where we need to be.”

Venz described the process used to test the repairs completed by the Telacu company. The process involved the usage of a tube, roughly the size of the media building, to simulate rain entering the center.

“We gave [Telacu] plenty of opportunity to resolve [the issues],” Venz said. “We tested [the repairs] again and again and it failed. So, based on our contract, we could legally terminate them, which is what we are doing.”

In August of 2024, Woodard projected that construction of the multi-million dollar media building would be completed by February of 2025. This new development, coupled with the struggle of bringing in a new construction company to carry out remediation, means that this projection is delayed.

“I would not anticipate that building opening this year,” Woodard said. “It’s likely that [ongoing construction] will be there for the fall.”

Venz clarified that the construction will be stopped until a new contract is created.

“We’re working with the DPEA foundation [and] we all agree … that the building [will] need to be in perfect shape [before] they open the doors,” Venz said. “The second part is doing it in a timely way so everyone can move into the building.”

Despite delays, Venz is “excited” about completing construction for the new building.

“It’s going to be an awesome building once it’s finally built, and I know that we’re all very happy and excited about this next chapter,” Venz said.