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Loma Linda Broadcasting Network Eying New Colton Home

The Seventh-day Adventist network is in escrow for a former Kmart location that has been empty for about 10 years.

Ten years.

That’s a long time for just about anything or anyone.

Especially long for a city with a big box store that has been closed and not generating any type of revenue.

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For the city of Colton, that situation may be coming to an end soon, as a former Kmart store, located at 1175 S. Mount Vernon Ave., on the northwest corner of Washington Street, might finally have a savior.

Loma Linda Broadcast Network, a Seventh-day Adventist television network that provides spiritual programming around the world, is in escrow to buy the property and turn it into its new broadcasting home.

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The network had a open house and dedication ceremony last month inside the building, and has been soliciting donations to help renovate the building and purchase equipment for studios, conference rooms and offices that will be housed there.

The network did not respond to numerous requests for comment. A consulting firm that has been working on behalf of the network with the city of Colton on the project said the network did not want to comment on the project.

But for the city of Colton, the news ends 10 years of hoping for a new tenant for the former big box location.

“Obviously we wanted something that would generate tax revenue, of course, like some kind of retail store,” said Colton District 6 City Councilman Alex Perez, who serves the area. “But I’m so happy to get something in there. And I’ve seen the pictures and plans. It just looks like a pretty exciting thing.

“Of course, we still have to go through all the process. But as far as I can tell, it seems like a very nice project.”

While the media center itself may not provide Colton with a boost in tax generation, there is hope that businesses around the area will benefit, said Arthur Morgan, redevelopment manager for the city.

“They tell us it’s going to generate quite a bit of visitors to the area,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday. “Which can be a positive for the ancillary development around it … the Walmart and the stores next door, some of the restaurants in the area. So in that respect, that side of that could assist in helping the additional retail around it.”

According to a brochure the network had on its website, the media center will include four studios, five auditoriums that can be used for everything from conventions to religious services, breakout conference rooms and a store and kitchen.

The broadcasting group produces shows for networks serving four languages: English, Arabic, Chinese and Southeast Asia. It is seen in 149 countries.

It was started in 1996 in a converted classroom in Loma Linda. It now broadcasts from a facility off Barton Road near the Loma Linda and Bryn Mawr post offices. It remains a nonprofit operation, dependant on viewer and community donations to fund its programming.

It is soliciting donations from viewers to help fund the project, with donors of $100 being placed on a wall inside the facility. There are also larger naming rights available, according to the brochure.

The former Kmart building they are looking to move into is 104,231 square feet, situated on 8.6 acres that is passed by more than 160,000 cars on Interstate 215 daily, according to information provided by Re/Max Commercial Properties, which is handling the listing.

Because the property is still in escrow, there are no firm plans as to when it will open, and even with what legislative hurdles might be faced before renovations can even start.

“They would definitely go through the development process and file for an application for that site, on the use,” Morgan said. “It is within the Cooley Ranch Master Plan Development Area, and whatever that plan states, they’ll have to adhere for or they would require variances as normal developments would.”

One other outcome Colton has looked as is the marketing opportunities that could come from having the broadcasts originating from the city.

But that is something that would have to come down the line. As far as the city is concerned, this is still a work in progress.

“We have had some early, initial talks, trying to find out what we stood with it,” Perez said by phone Tuesday. “Now we just have to go through the process we have to go through plan check and if it has to go to the planning commission, and so and so on. So we’re still in the very early stages.”

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