Capital projects at SMC get plenty of money; classrooms, teachers and students don’t
Santa Monica College, struggling to balance its mutli-million dollar deficit through program and staff cuts, is building a new $6 million theater.
Called the “Main Stage” theater, the 20,000-square-foot complex will replace the existing facility on SMC’s campus, which was built 50 years ago.
The theater will be paid for by funds raised through a $160 million bond voters approved in March 2002, which can only be used to renovate buildings at the aging campus on Pico Boulevard.
While SMC trustees eliminate entire academic programs and cut staff positions to address the college’s worst financial crisis it’s ever experienced, new multi-million dollar buildings will be pop-ping up all over campus. Some of them will be empty and others may be under utilized.
“The supreme irony is we have all this money to change our campus physically while we are facing the worst budget in history,” said Bruce Smith, SMC spokesman.
The Main Stage theater, which will begin construction early next year, is just one of nearly two dozen projects SMC administrators plan to start in the next decade.
About $30 million already has been spent on the purchase of the 10-acre BAE Systems property that the college bought in December 2001. The facility is located near the airport, and was planned to be used as a satellite campus, as well as overflow parking and house the college’s ancillary departments.
But the building continues to sit empty while the college deals with the deep cuts handed down by Gov. Gray Davis in an attempt to close California’s budget deficit.
“Everything has been put on hold,” Smith said, adding that options for the space are being considered which include leasing the space out to another entity.
A new $9 million emeritus college currently being built on Second Street in downtown Santa Monica also was funded through Measure U. But chances are the satellite campus won’t be used as much as previously thought since the SMC board of trustees recently cut 20 percent of the emeritus college’s classes and eliminated a few teachers.
A facilities assessment completed in 2002 outlined 21 projects at the college that will be funded by Measure U. The next priority is to replace the earthquake-damaged liberal arts building and temporary buildings with modern labs and classrooms. Another $8.9 million will be used to renovate a building that SMC owns at the corner of 14th Street and Pico Boulevard that will be used for a literacy center.
“We really think in 10 years, we’ll change the face of the college,” Smith said, adding that state law prevents SMC from spending Measure U money on anything but facility improvements. State law prohibits the money from being used for operational costs or teacher salaries.
“It would be irresponsible to stop everything and wait for the budget crisis to blow over,” he said. “Lots and lots of community colleges are facing the same situation.”
Dozens of community colleges have passed bond measures since the passage of Proposition 39 in 2002. Prop. 39 requires a list of specific projects to be funded from the bond and must be adopted by the college’s board of trustees before the election.
The SMC Financial Oversight Committee, made up of appointed members, reviews the bond expenditures and advises the public on where the money is going.
Joe Weichman, a member of the committee and a SMC student, said all of the Measure U money has been earmarked because state law mandates that it has to be.
“Measure U was passed when we thought we would be expanding classes,” he said, adding the financial oversight committee met two weeks when the issue was discussed. “It was brought up that we are building these buildings and we might not have any students in them but when voters approved the bond, the plan was already approved. It’s out of our hands.”
Weichman said it’s unlikely the state would ever relinquish control over the funds, but it would be nice.
“I think we could do a lot better job if it was in local control,” he said.
The Main Stage complex, designed by Leo A. Daly, a Los Angeles-based architect, features a 300-seat theater with full backstage capabilities including a sound and lighting room, as well as a lobby, dressing rooms, classrooms and offices. The building is expected to be completed by 2005.
SMC also is a building a $15 million performance theater at its Madison Campus on 11th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard. The 500-seat theater is funded through private donations, of which $8 million has been raised, Smith said.
While the Main Stage theater on the main campus will focus on theater and in-house productions exclusively, the Madison theater will feature a wide variety of the arts including music and dance, theater and lectures from outside artists.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 18, 2003. Read the original PDF.