The Chapala City Council has approved legal maneuvers to fast-track housing the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) Chapala branch at the abandoned grounds of the Media Park.
The 3.9-hectare site located a short distance from the Libramiento bypass was donated to the Jalisco Institute of Information Technologies (IJALTI) during Chapala’s 2004-2006 administration. Various business projects initiated there never prospered.
On February 7, the council voted unanimously to accept the terms of an agreement reached between IJALTI management and UdeG Rector Ricardo Villanueva. IJALTI will return ownership of the property to the Chapala government, allowing for its subsequent donation to the public university, the second largest in Mexico. The goal is to complete renovations and open classrooms by November 1.
Councilors requested that other issues be wrapped into the deal, such as requiring UdeG to relinquish the donation of a plot for the construction of the Proulex language school and move out of its provisional quarters on Calle Niños Heroes.
A matter not addressed was what will become of the 22-hectare spread near Las Brisas titled to the UdeG in 2019 for construction of the Chapala campus.