SR-850-005-01 (17)
Council Meeting: May 14, 2002 Santa Monica, CA
To: Mayor and City Council
From: City Staff
Subject: Main Library Schematic Design Report
Introduction
This report describes the schematic design plan for the new Main Library at fifty percent
completion, including the potential for incorporating the Stanton Macdonald-Wright
mural.
Background
Community interest in expanded library resources and facilities has been expressed
since the mid-1980s. The greatest expression of that desire was the overwhelming
approval of Proposition L, a measure on the November 1998 ballot authorizing the City
to sell general obligation bonds in an amount up to $25,000,000 in support of library
construction and renovation. Since that time, staff has proceeded with the development
of the Main Library project and selected the architectural firm of Moore Ruble Yudell
(MRY) for design services, Bovis Lend-Lease for project management and Morely
Builders for design-build services.
The initial conceptual design for the new Main Library was presented to Council on
November 13, 2001. It was revised by MRY to reflect comments and suggestions from
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Council, the Library Board, the community and staff. Council approved the revised
conceptual plan on December 18, 2001.
Discussion
Schematic Design
During this phase of the project MRY is refining the conceptual plan and increasing the
level of detail. Large-scale modifications include a re-working of the building façade and
changes to the roofline. The basic service areas and building features have been
refined with a more detailed study of their internal functionality. The footprint of the
building is substantially unchanged. (See attached drawings.)
One of the comments about the conceptual design made at the December 18 Council
meeting related to the look and feel of the building from Santa Monica Boulevard. In
response, MRY has begun to consider design approaches that create a larger
presence. While the initial drawings suggested a façade that varied in height and depth,
the new designs incorporate a more linear scheme that reflects the size and mass of the
building, giving it a more civic presence.
The treatments of the north and south entrances have been modified. To the north, the
entrance arcade has been revised to provide better control over the reception court. A
new covered porch was created for the elevators to the parking levels, and a smaller
porch was created at the staff entrance. For the south entrance, on Santa Monica
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Boulevard, the new design partially encloses the entrance garden to the roofline to
extend the form of the building to Sixth Street.
The project team is conducting an ongoing evaluation of sustainability features,
including evaluating systems and approaches necessary to achieve the desired silver
LEED rating. A multidisciplinary team is collaborating to develop strategies to minimize
the use of resources, reduce any harmful effects on the environment and create a
healthy indoor environment. Life-cycle analysis and a ?whole building? approach will
reduce the impact of construction and lower the operating costs of the new building.
Stanton Macdonald-Wright Mural
An issue of great interest to Council has been the Stanton Macdonald-Wright mural.
Staff has continued to gather information from every source and MRY has begun to
evaluate opportunities for installing the mural in the new building, should it become
available.
Because the Smithsonian American Art Museum is in the process of moving to
temporary facilities while they renovate their museum and administrative offices, the
registrar?s office is unable to access its records about the library mural. Therefore
Library staff contacted Dr. Will South, curator of the recent Macdonald-Wright
retrospective exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, for pertinent
information. Dr. South provided a copy of the dimensions of each of the 38 mural panels
from the Smithsonian?s registrar files that he had obtained during his research. He also
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sent a diagram of the order of the panels when they were installed in the Main Library
on Fifth Street. This information has been shared with Moore Ruble Yudell.
Both the Smithsonian?s registrar and Dr. South have discussed with Library staff the
need to view the remaining mural panels, which are located in the Smithsonian?s offsite
storage facilities, in order to: (1) verify that the dimensions and the order of the panels in
the museum?s files are accurate; and (2) determine the condition of the panels currently
in storage. According to Dr. South, not all of the panels are stored at the same offsite
facility, some of them are in ?deep storage,? and some of the panels viewed by him were
in ?poor? condition and may require major restoration prior to any loan consideration.
Smithsonian staff has stated that the library mural panels will be available for
examination no sooner than Fall 2002 because of the Smithsonian?s renovation project.
In the meantime, MRY has built a database that contains all of the information currently
available about the mural panels. They are considering possible scenarios for
incorporating them into the building and have developed scale drawings indicating their
potential placement. (See attached.)
As the Library design is developed further it will be necessary to make a number of
decisions that have a substantial cost impact, many of which hinge upon whether or not
we anticipate exhibiting the mural. Some of these issues include: the need to involve a
museum exhibit design consultant; insuring that there is an adequate loading dock and
a clear path of travel for objects measuring ten feet by ten feet; providing adequate
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security systems, methods and staffing; capacity for around-the-clock climate control to
keep the exhibit space at the appropriate temperature and humidity; evaluation of
lighting methods, proximity and levels; fire suppression systems for the exhibit spaces;
control of dust, dirt and access by people to touch the artwork; and, ample insurance to
cover damage to the mural. Many of these questions relate directly to the Smithsonian
Institution?s evaluation of the request for a long-term loan of artwork.
Parking
The conceptual plan approved in December included drawings and a description of the
plans for parking around and beneath the new Main Library. The plan includes a small
garden-like surface lot at the north end of the site, part of which is identified for possible
library expansion, and a large below-grade lot of nearly 600 spaces. Approximately 450
of these spaces will be used as replacement parking for the downtown parking
structures during their seismic retrofit and reconstruction. Access to the below-grade lot
is from Seventh Street, with one lane for inbound traffic splitting to two within the
garage, and two lanes for outbound. That configuration remains in the 50% Schematic
Design and is still the configuration recommended by MRY. The parking spaces that are
beyond the anticipated needs of the Library are to be funded by the Redevelopment
Agency, which will consider this at a later date.
Some concerns have been raised since the December Council meeting regarding
access to and from the below-grade lot. Based on their evaluation of the Downtown
parking structures, and problems with queuing in the structures and impacts to the
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traffic at adjacent intersections, staff from the Transportation Management Division
suggested adding an additional cashiered exit lane and additional access to Sixth
Street.
MRY?s parking consultant, IPD, and Kaku Associates evaluated the traffic load potential
of the existing design using standard methodology. The entry and exit lanes
accommodate the garage capacity, though there may be exiting delays during peak
hours. Both IPD?s and Kaku?s initial findings indicate that two exit lanes to Seventh
Street are adequate to clear the lot under normal, non-peak conditions and will not
create undue congestion or a hazardous condition on the roadway. During peak hours
there could be some delay in exiting and an increased burden on the surrounding
intersections, possibly resulting in an unacceptable level of service in at least one
intersection. This may require a finding of overriding consideration when the project is
approved. To mitigate such an impact could require redesigning the structure to reduce
the number of public parking spaces or to add the Sixth Street access. A more
comprehensive analysis will be completed in the EIR.
Implementing the proposal for a second exit path onto Sixth Street would impact some
of the key features of the current plan, such as the garden at the north entrance and the
effort to minimize the visibility of parking to passersby. Sixth Street is also busier than
Seventh Street. It has a heavy pedestrian load and a mid-block pedestrian crossing very
near the north edge of the Library site used frequently by children and families and by
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visitors to the YMCA. Multiple entrances and exits also pose security challenges and an
added staffing expense.
For these reasons staff continues to support the configuration of the parking structure
as presented in the conceptual design report, that is, to have one lane for inbound traffic
and two lanes for inbound traffic from Seventh Street only. MRY will explore feasible
design modifications, such as adding a second pay-booth on the outbound lanes, in
order to reduce the likelihood of delays, as schematic design continues.
Next Steps
Following review of the fifty percent schematic design, MRY will proceed with further
refinement of the plan and return on July 23, 2002, to present the completed schematic
design.
Budget/Financial Impact
There is no financial impact associated with review of the schematic design at this
stage. The total project is expected to cost approximately $50 million. Funds in the
amount of $45 million for this project have been programmed in the three-year Capital
Improvements Program budget. The remaining funds will be included in next year?s CIP
budget.
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Recommendation
Staff recommends Council review the Main Library Fifty Percent Schematic Design
plans and provide comment and feedback as appropriate.
Prepared by: Wini Allard, City Librarian
Greg Mullen, Assistant City Librarian
Attachments:
NOT AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY
MRY Plans and Drawings as follows:
SEE CITY CLERK?S OFFICE FOR ORIGINALS
1. Landscape Plan
2. Ground Floor Plan
3. Second Floor Plan
4. Roof Plan
5. Basement Level 1 Plan
6. Santa Monica Boulevard Perspective
7. Courtyard Perspective
8. Reading Room Perspective
9. Section Looking East
10. Stanton-Macdonald Wright Mural Inventory
11. Mural Incorporation Concept
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