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# Madison Project construction set to get underway soon after New Year
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/madison-project-construction-set-to-get-underway-soon-after-new-year/
- Published: 2004-11-18T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:36:47.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

week, a project which has been in the works for more than six years. As recently as last summer the theater cost was pegged at $17 million, but that figure has nearly doubled since.

“First of all, there were a lot of things that changed,” explained Robertson. “The size of the whole structure. The EIR (Environmental Impact Report) requirements that the city asked us to go through were massive... The things that are being requested of us like, for example, changing the sewer line in the city and adding one onto the street. That’s at our cost.

“We hadn’t thought of that when we first looked at building a theater.”

Outside of construction costs, college officials already have spent about $2.7 million to have the architectural plans drafted and to pay for other expenses like completing the EIR, according to Dale Franzen, project director for the new theater.

While officials originally expected to fund the theater solely through private money, voters on Nov. 2 passed Measure S, which will pump $24 million into the theater. Another $3 million is available from the Measure U bond, passed by voters in 2002\. SMC also received a $1 million federal grant and has raised close to $8 million from private donors, Franzen said.

Santa Monica architecture firm Renzo Zecchetto Architects drafted designs for the theater, which will be used both for professional and student shows.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 18, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111804.pdf?ref=smdp.com)