Santa Monica Festival to cost upwards of $80,000 a year
By KIM CALVERT Special to the Daily Press
COUNCIL CHAMBERS — Elected officials here are expected to spend tonight more than $2 million on a new parking garage, improvements to the Civic Auditorium, neighborhood street upgrades and a spring festival.
The City Council is poised to spend more than $1.1 million for improvements to the Civic Auditorium, which is an historic landmark and used for a host of community events.
About $958,000 will be spent to replace what city staff say is a severely damaged air conditioning system. An additional $199,100 will be used to renovate the ceiling and lighting in the auditorium’s east wing. HEC Construction, Inc., which has completed similar projects for the Los Angeles Unified School District, submitted the winning bid for the project.
The lighting and ceiling renovation will allow City Hall to better market the auditorium and will meet the future expansion of the facility, city staff said.
Improvements to the cooling system, which is more than 50 years old, is expected to result in long-term savings for City Hall, city staff said. The auditorium, which used to host the Academy Awards, is located next to the PAYING FOR PARKING The City Council also is expected tonight to spend $544,123 for the initial phase of a parking structure in the Civic Center. City staff said the structure is needed because of the increased demand for parking, as well as the ongoing retro-fitting of downtown parking structures.
Of the amount allotted for the initial construction, $223,258 will be paid to the Smith-Emery Co. to inspect and test materials. Nearly $67,000 will be paid to D7 Consulting to perform waterproofing inspection, according to city staff. Another $204,700 will be paid to Ninyo and Moore to perform soils inspection and environmental oversight. An additional $49,465 was planned for contingencies.
The structure will be constructed on city land bounded by Fourth Street, Civic Center Drive, Avenida Mazatlan and Olympic Drive.
LINING THE STREETS Close to $1.2 million is expected to be spent to improve a Mid-City neighborhood. About $875,000 would come from property owners and City Hall would kick in $320,000, the amount originally allotted for the project.
The City Council has scheduled a public meeting for Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Ken Edwards Center to discuss the improvement plans that could result in property owners paying as much as $9,750 for a parcel with a frontage of 50 feet. Property owners will be given the opportunity to vote on whether or not they should be assessed for the cost of the improvements.
After objecting to City Hall’s plans to remove existing trees to complete sidewalk and pavement repairs on Yale Street between Montana Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, property owners will have an opportunity to select improvement alternatives that will preserve the street’s tree canopy and widen parkways on either side of the street by four feet, according to city staff. The improvements would not result in the loss of travel or parking lanes, city staff said. Property owners of rent controlled units would not be able to pass on the cost of the assessment to renters.
INKING THE FESTIVAL DEAL City staff has recommended that the council authorize the City Manager to negotiate a $80,000 per year, three-year contract with the production company, Community Arts Resources (CARS), to produce the Santa Monica Festival. The annual event, held at Clover Park, celebrates the history of Santa Monica and includes music, dance, crafts from local artists and environmental workshops.
Funds for the 2005 festival come from City Hall’s cultural affairs and environmental programs division. Additional non-city funding comes from private nonprofit foundations and corporate sponsorships.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 11, 2005. Read the original PDF.