SR-513-002 (2)
"GS:SES:RF:ZH
ARTS:DL I
Council Meeting: ~tober
, 1983
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Santa Manlca, California
5/3-t:JCJ2
II-A
TO:
Mayor and Clty Councll
OCT 2 5 1983
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendatlons for the Streets cape of Wilshlre
Boulevard and Centinela Gateway ProJect
INTRODUCTION
This report requests that the City Councll approve:
(A) General
Services Department concept of enhanced streetscape deslgn as
outllned below and (B) the Arts Commisslon's plan to commission
its flrst maJor publlC artwork project, which would be known as
"The Centlnela Gateway."
BACKGROUND
On June 10,
1983, the General Servlces/Art In Public Places
Subcommittee of the Arts CommlSSlon held a one-day W1Ishlre
Boulevard Deslgn Workshop to obtaln publlC and professional lnput
regardlng lmprovements on Wllshire Boulevard. Over flfty deslgn
and arts professlonals and concerned cltlzens met in an offlce
space
donated
by
Wlseman Shenassa, a Wllshlre Boulevard
businessman, to determlne an overall deslgn and aesthetlc program
for the rehabllitation of Wilshlre, and to make speclfic
recommendations for the expenditure of monles. The subcommittee
was extremely gratifled by the success of the workshop, the large
turnout, the enthuslasm of the particlpants and the level of
thelr expertlse, the quality of the ldeas generated, and the
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OCT 2 5 198]
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large number of people wishlng to be further lnvolved 1n the
proJect.
The goals and objectives presented for the group to work with
included the followlng:
1. To 1dentlfy and prov1de art1stic opportun1t1es for artlsts
and their work as the beglnn1ng of an Art in Publ1C Places
program for the City of Santa Monica.
2. To 1mprove and enrich Wilshlre Boulevard in conJunctlon w1th
the goals and objectives of the proposed Land Use Element for
the City's General Plan, and 1n accordance with other Clty
ord1nances.
3. To develop llvable and pedestr1an-orlented public spaces.
4. To lnsure that the needs of the communlty, property owners,
merchants, and day-to-day users of W1lshlre are accommodated
1n the design recommendations.
5. To become a model for other areas of the Clty which wlll be
undergolng reVlew and renovatlon.
City Staff lndlcated its support of the des1gn project by send1ng
Department Heads and representat1ves to speak wlth participants,
alertlng them to various departmental prlorltles, concerns, and
gUldelines. Those present expressed the1r apprec1ation of the
lnformation given and felt that the presence of these staff
members rooted the proJect 1n reality, maklng the day all the
more productlve.
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The organ1z1ng commlttee structured the agenda so that 1n the
morning part1cipants conSldered the overall design scheme or
program for the street. In the afternoon, they addressed
speclflc elements to fit in with the broad concepts artlculated
during the mornlng.
A) W1lshlre Streetscape Desi9n Project
It was recommended that General Servlces select a des1gn team to
create an overall deslgn scheme for the W1lshlre Boulevard
streetscape. The team will ldentlfy and recommend areas of the
Boulevard for first construction of the streets cape lmprovements
and also w11l recommend phased fundlng requirements to accompllsh
these lmprovements and identlfy sources of funds for the project.
The scope of services to be requested from the deslgn team will
lnclude:
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Produce
an
overall schemat1c site plan for Wllshlre
Boulevard 2ncluding:
a) 11lustrat1ve slte plan
b) street level perspectlve of prototype areas
c) ldentlfy and site the followlng for speclflc areas:
1. pavement treatment/pedestrian crosswalks
2. speclally deslgned street furnlture and placement
thereof lncluding bus benches, shelters, waste
receptacles, newsracks, bollards, etc.
3. landscape treatment
4. graph1cs and signage wlthln the purview of the
pub11c sector
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5. 11ght1ng - street and decorat1ve
6. color scheme
7. placement and des1gn of specific artworks/murals
events, etc. and amenltles.
d) general deslgn princlples/guldel1nes for Boulevard ln
wrltten form
In the 1983-84 f1scal year, $250,000 was appropriated from Gas
Tax funds for Wilshire Boulevard beautlfication as ProJect No.
421-907 in the eIP Budget. ThlS proJect 1S programmed ln the
1983-86 Transportatlon Improvement Program (TIP). Upon fleld
reVlew and final approval by the Federal Hlghway Admlnistrat1on,
the C1ty will be elig1ble to recelve $215,525 (86.21%) from FAD
money. Fleld reVlew 1S scheduled for the week of October 17.
Flnal approval for FAD fund1ng 1S expected 4 to 6 weeks after
review. Once the proJect is approved, deslgn and engineer1ng can
begin. Federal H1ghway Adm1nlstrat1on wlll not relmburse for
work completed pr10r to proJect approval.
B) Cent1nela Gateway Pro~ect
Workshop participants recommended to the Arts Commission the need
for a sign1flcant marker announcing one's entrance into Santa
Monlca from Los Angeles to the east. The slte chosen for thlS
publlC artwork proJect was Wl1sh1re Boulevard, extendlng from the
Los Angeles/Santa Monica border at Centinela, two blocks west, to
Berkeley. The slte was deflned as being the entlre two-block
strip, in order to glve the artlst more flexibillty In responding
to the Slte, and to take maX1mum advantage of the view along
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W1lshire all the way west to the Pacif1c Ocean. Th1S two-block
area is referred to as "The Centl.nela Gateway."
The s~te 1S phys1cally a problematlc one, in that lt 1S a busy
commerclal str1p, with narrow sidewalks and mixed-use
development. w1th w1ldly divergent arch1tectural styles and
s~gnage. The heavy traff~c is an advantage, however, in that the
project will be highly vis~ble. It presents a challenge which
wlll call for an 1nnovative solut1on, and hopefully, will prov1de
a model for the lmprovement of other commerc1al strips 1n the
Clty. Based on these general recommendatlons resultlng from the
Wilshire Boulevard Design Workshop, the Arts Commlssion approved
of the Centlnela Gateway Project at 1ts meeting on August 15,
1983. The specific provisions of the proJect are proposed as
follows:
Purpose
The purpose of the Centlnela Gateway 1S to announce one's
arrlval ~nto Santa Monlca from Los Angeles along the maJor
commercial corridor of W1lshire Boulevard. In the massive
urban sprawl that is greater Los Angeles, once-dist1nct
nelghborhoods and cltles have merged lnto anonym1ty. The
Gateway should commemorate Santa Monlca's speclal character
and celebrate the traveler's approach to the ocean.
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Slte Descri~tion
The slte conslsts of the two-block stretch of Wllshlre
Boulevard between Centinela and Berkeley Streets. The term
"Gateway" mayor may not be interpreted literally to signlfy
an archltectural gatelike structure. All elements of the
streetscape may be conSldered in the proposal: landscaping,
street furniture, lighting, slgnage (excludlng prlvate
commercial slgnage), and sldewalk or street pavlng.
Permission to utlllze walls of privately owned bUlldlngs or
other private property must be obtalned from the owner prlor
to the applicatlon.
Applicatlon Procedure
An "Open/Invltatlonal" competition wlll be conducted to
select an artlst/deslgner(s) to deslgn the Centinela
Gateway. The term "0pen/lnvltatJ.on" lndJ.cates that the
competition would be open to anyone who responds to the call
for entrles (which would be wldely publ1c1zed), and that the
members of the selectlon panel wlll also be able to
specifically lnVJ.te artJ.sts to apply. ThJ.s process has been
found to be most succesful 1n assurlng that the most
promlSJ.ng artlsts are consJ.dered, and lS recommended by the
Natlonal Endowment for the Arts.
Because of the physlcal challenges of the site,
artists/deslgners wJ.II be requlred to submlt a prelJ.mJ.nary
proposal as well as slldes of past work. The proposal would
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consist of a prellmlnary drawlng, budget, and description of
the artist's lntent. Artists would be encouraged to seek
lnnovatlve Solutlons to the problems associated wlth the
slte.
Selection Procedure
A three-step selectlon procedure would be used to select the
artist(s} and/or deslgner(s) for the proJect. Th~s
procedure would be as follows:
Step 1: A thirteen-member Adv~sory Commlttee, with lts
membershlp being drawn from area resldents,
property owners, and representatlves of the arts
community, would meet to recommend gUldelines and
general consideration for the selectlon of the
artist(s}/deslgner(s).
Step 2: The Selection commlttee would meet to reVlew the
proposals and select the winner{s}, uSlng the
guidellnes recommended by the Advlsory Committee.
ThlS panel would include Jerry Pomerantz,
Archltectural Deslgner, Member of Mid-Clty
Nelghborsi
Beverly J. Moore, Vlce-President of
Flrst Women's Bank, Vlce-Presldent of the Santa
Monlca Chamber of Commerce, and Rlchard Koshalek,
Dlrector,
Angeles.
Step 3: The declsion of the Selectlon Commlttee is ratified
the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los
by the Arts CommlsS1on.
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Budget/Financlal Impact
A) Wilshlre Streetscape Des19n Pro~ect
Deslgn and first phase construction will be funded from
Capital Improvement ProJect No. 421-907 in the amount of
$250,000 pending Federal Highway Admlnistratlon
approval. Appropriatlon authorlty appears in Account
No. 43-500-421-000-907 and revenue has been budgeted In
Account No. 43-905-076-000-000.
Further construction funding would
annual capltal budget approprlatlons
grants as they may become aval1able.
be required from
and from speclflc
B) Centlnela Gateway ProJect
At the moment there lS no budget lmpact on the Centinela
Gateway ProJect. At such tlme as the grant is secured
and/or private funding comes in approprlate lnformation
wlll be brought before the Clty Councll and City
agencles.
Adminlstration
A) Wllshlre Streetscape Deslgn Project
ThlS proJect wll1 be handled under General SerVlces
Department
procedures
requirements.
regular
and wlll
stafflng
comply
and
with
administratlve
FAU/TIP grant
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B) Cent~nela Gateway Project
Process~ng of applicat10ns and support for the Adv1sory
and Select~on comm1ttees would be accompl~shed by Arts
Commlss1on staff, w1th the ass1stance of the General
Services representative and the Arts Comm1ss1oner who
will be facllitat1ng the process.
RECOMMENDATION
City staff recommends that C1ty Council:
1) Approve the concept of enhanced streetscape deslgn for
W1lsh1re Boulevard and the proposed scope of serVlces
for a des1gn teamj and,
2) Approve of the Arts Commiss1on's plan to commlSS1on 1ts
f~rst maJor pub11c artwork proJect,
liThe Cent1nela
Gateway. "
Prepared by: Stan Scholl, Director of General Services
Rusty Fllnton, Consultant
Davld Lutz, D1rector, Arts Commlss1on
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DESIGN WORKSHOP PARTICIP~NTS
Architects
Jerry Pomerantz, Santa Monlca Mid-City Neighbors
Ralph Mechur
Craig Hodgetts
Robert Kramer
Historians
Paul Gleye, City of Santa Monica Historic Survey Contractor
leslle Heumann, Pasadena Heritage
Landscape
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Ron Kammeyer, Kammeyer & Partners
Rodd Bennitt, POD, Inc.
George Gentner, Lang & Wood
Regula Campbell, Campbell & Campbell
lighting
Ray Grenald, Grenald & ASSoClates
Ronald Rezek, Rezek ASSoclates
Graphlcs
Gere Kava~augh, Gere Kavanaugh Deslgn
Urban Deslgners
Wl111am Morrish, Babrow Thomas & Associates
Murray Sllversteln, JacobsonjSl1verstein/Winslow
Gary Squire, Santa Monlca Communlty Group
Urban Planners
Delores Hayden, Graduate School of Architecture,
Urban Plannlng, UCLA
John Given, Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency
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Street FUr"1 ture
Stacey Dukes, Century Plastlcs
Chrls Edwards, Forms & Surfaces
Jerry McCabe
Robert Maxwell, Artlo Industries
Arti sts
Kent Twitchell
G i 1 be rt L u J a n
Marlo Bartel s
James- Ga nze r
Lloyd Hamral
Dora De Larios
Uta Albuquerque
Ann Robbins
Maren Hassinger
WilShire Property Owners
Beverly Moore, First Women's Bank
Pattl Glick
J~ne Ullman
Mr. & Mrs. Tugrul Uke
Wiseman Shenassa
Wilshire Merchants
Cyd ?ercin
Shelley Reimer
Cean Mi edel
~ommunity Residents
Fay Kessler, Mid-City Neighbors
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Randy Grant, Communlty Crlme ResistancejWestslde Independent
Servlces to the Elderly
Sy1 vi a Gent i 1 e
Heidi Aspaturian
Cit,Y Staff
Stanley E. Scholl, Director of General Se~vices
Ray Davis, Traffic & Parking Engineer
Doug Stafford, Parks Superintendent
Chris Rudd, Long Range Planning, Community Development Dept.
Curtis Ansel, Wilshire Project Engineer
John Jali1;, Assistant City Manager
Mark Tigan, Director af Community & Economic Development
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Ot he rs
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Susan Cloke, Planning Commissioner
Herbert Kendall, Developer/Arts Commissioner
Bruria Finkel, Arts Commissioner
General Services Arts in Public Places Subcommittee
Claudla Carol, Architect
Sara Faulds, Member, Santa Monica Archltectural Review Board
Wl11iam Fleissig, Architect, City West
Rusty Fl1nton, General Services Consultant
Roger Genser, Art Dealer
Arlene Hopkins, Mld-City Neighbors
Art Love, Welton Becket Associates
Eudora Moore, Art Consultant
Deborah Perrin, Art Editor
Sarah Tamar, Santa Monica Arts Commissioner