sr-111709-8bCity Council Meeting: November 17, 2009
Agenda Item:
To: Mayor and City Council
From: P. Lamont Ewell, City Manager
Subject: Conceptual Proposal for Contemporary Art Museum in the Civic Center
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that Council consider a conceptual proposal by The Broad
Foundations (The Broad Art Foundation and The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation) to
finance and work with the City to establish a public museum of contemporary art in the
Civic Center, probably through a development agreement or a disposition and
development agreement, and direct staff to initiate negotiations with The Broad
Foundations.
Executive Summary
The Broad Foundations and City management have been discussing a conceptual
proposal to build a public museum of contemporary art between the Civic Auditorium
and the County Courthouse. The proposal affords the potential to significantly advance
the City's goals of promoting the arts and enhancing cultural opportunities in the Civic
Center and the City with a relatively small expenditure of public funds. It would require
amendment to the Civic Center Specific Plan and would presumably be accomplished
through either a development agreement and lease arrangement or through a
disposition and development agreement covering both the museum project and the land
lease.
The Foundations' concept is to lease approximately 2.5 acres of City-owned land for a
nominal amount, commission design by an internationally renowned architect, pay all
but a small percentage of design and construction costs, construct and operate the
museum, and establish an endowment to cover ongoing operational costs for aworld-
class public museum and art archive. In return, the City would invest a specified
amount of public funds in the design and construction, lease the site to the Foundations,
ensure adequate parking for Foundation staff and patrons, install and maintain exterior
landscaping surrounding the museum, and, possibly, to purchase The Broad Art
Foundation's existing property on Barnard Way. Additionally, because time is of the
essence to the Foundations and delay would jeopardize the project, the City would
commit to expedite the process while preserving full public review.
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Background
Development of the Civic Center is governed by the Civic Center Specific Plan (CCSP),
which was adopted in 1993 and amended in 2005. The Civic Auditorium District section
of the CCSP plan is attached. In addition to the existing uses, the CCSP calls for park
space, an early childhood development center and an expansion of the Civic
Auditorium's East Wing for cultural, educational and community-oriented activities in the
Civic Auditorium District.
Creative Capital, the City's adopted cultural master plan, also speaks to the Civic
Auditorium District as a cultural focal point of the community. The survey undertaken as
of part of Creative Capital found that 73 percent of residents consider the creation of a
major art museum in Santa Monica to be appealing or very appealing.
The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Collection and The Broad Art Foundation collection (the
Broad Collections) are considered to be among the world's finest collections of
contemporary art. The Broad Collections include approximately 2,000 artworks by more
than 200 artists, ranging from the vanguard innovators of the 1960s and 70s to artists
achieving similar distinction today. The Broad Collections are regularly augmented by
very selective additions of significant contemporary masterworks. The Broads have
always felt an imperative to share their collections, and to this end, over the past 25
years, The Broad Art Foundation has loaned more than 7,000 works to more than 450
public institutions with more than 100 million annual visitors combined. However, most
of this world-class collection is currently inaccessible to the public because the Broad
residences and The Broad Art Foundation facility (located at 3355 Barnard Way in
Santa Monica) are not open to the public. And, while certain works from the Broad
Collections are exhibited at the Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA and are on
loan to other museums nationally and internationally, the vast majority of works from the
Broad Collections are kept in storage. The Broad Foundations have been exploring
how best to house the Collections and make them available for the benefit of the public.
Accordingly, the Foundations have developed a conceptual approach. of building a
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public museum and archive in a prime location in western Los Angeles County. The
museum would be designed by a world-class architect.
Discussion
Santa Monica and its Civic Center is a prime candidate for the public museum concept.
The concept envisions a museum, art archive and supporting uses being built on
approximately 2.5 acres facing Main Street between the County Courthouse and the
Civic Auditorium, which would be leased from the City through a very long-term lease
for a token rent. The Foundations would pay the bulk of the costs of design and
construction, with the City paying only a small percentage , (perhaps $1 million).
Additionally, at the option of The Broad Art Foundation, the City would purchase the
property on Barnard Way, which has an estimated value of approximately $6 million,
and take responsibility for expediting the project through the permit process and
absorbing permit and development impact costs. The Broad Foundations would
establish an endowment large enough to pay for maintenance and operating costs of
the museum, which would be privately owned, operated and maintained. The City
would maintain exterior landscaping.
The benefits of the proposal are readily apparent. The City would gain aworld-class
cultural amenity in the Civic Center. The museum would significantly advance City
policies that strongly favor promoting the arts and fostering cultural opportunities,
particularly in the Civic Center. Moreover, the museum would draw residents and
visitors to the Civic Center area which will be readily accessible by public and private
transportation. In addition to the museum, visitors to the Civic Center could also enjoy
the plethora of unique amenities and attractions in the immediate vicinity. These
include Palisades Park, the proposed Palisades Garden Walk, the revitalized Civic
Auditorium and proposed park, the Pier, and the Promenade, as well as many
outstanding hotels and restaurants and the redeveloped Santa Monica Place, all within
easy walking distance of the proposed museum site.
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Various process requirements would apply to this conceptual project. Likely, the
development agreement process or disposition and development agreement process
would be utilized, in which case the terms of the City's relationship with The Broad
Foundations would be defined contractually.
The development agreement process is established by Chapter 9.48 of the Municipal
Code. It requires a hearing before the Planning Commission, along with the formulation
of a Planning Commission recommendation, and a hearing before Council in advance of
development agreement approval. Additionally, in recent years, the City has formulated
a practice of "floating up" the concept of development agreements to the Planning
Commission and to Council before negotiation. This practice is not governed by law but
is referenced in general guidelines for development agreements, which were prepared
pursuant to Council direction in 2003 and which are set forth in an Information Item
dated December 2, 2003. Consistent with this practice, the concept of the proposed
museum will be presented to the Planning Commission at the earliest opportunity so
that the Commission, which would eventually conduct a hearing on a proposed
development agreement, may provide feedback on the concept early.
Concurrent with development agreement process, a process would be necessary to
amend the Civic Center Specific Plan in order to allow the proposed use. Ordinance
amendments to support permit expediting may also be necessary. Once the project is
formulated, environmental review would be required. Public review would, as always,
be part of the development agreement, environmental assessment, and amendment
processes. Because time is of the essence to The Broad Foundations and is a
significant factor in the Foundations' selection of a location for the museum, the City
would work to facilitate the process, consistent with complete transparency and full
public review.
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Alternative
The alternative to providing staff with direction and authorizing continued work on this
concept is to decline the proposal.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
There is no significant cost to directing staff to enter into negotiations with The Broad
Foundations. If the proposal eventually becomes a project, the direct costs to the City
could include the City's contribution to the cost of design, its possible purchase of the
Barnard Way property, costs of any supplemental environmental assessment
undertaken by the City and costs of any mitigations associated with implementation of
the Civic Center Plan. The amount of these costs cannot be ascertained in advance of
negotiations, but the City Manager estimates the total, excluding future maintenance
costs, at approximately $7 million. There could also be indirect costs and opportunity
costs, such as the opportunity cost of leasing the land for a token fee and the indirect
costs of dedicating staff to expedite permits and approvals. In addition, there might be
costs associated with ensuring adequate parking for the museum, and there would be
future costs associated with maintenance of landscaping.
Prepared by: P. Lamont Ewell, City Manager
Approved
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. Lamont Ewell
City Manager
Attachments:
Forwarded to Council:
A. Civic Auditorium District, Civic Center Specific Plan
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