I was unable to attend the council meeting on the 24th of May due to play rehearsals. After talking with several parties I came to the realization that this was a done deal. The City bought this building and convinced the community with a promise that they ultimately had to break. For the art community it is disappointing but on the other hand there might be a bright side. We got a taste of the possibility that this art community called Malibu might get a performing arts center that was affordable to use and up to the standards necessary to make all of the various disciplines happy. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen in the confines of the Council Chamber.
The problem you have created for yourselves is this: We really want a performance art center now that we have been tempted. You opened a Pandora’s Box. We want a space that can handle a community symphony orchestra, ballet productions, rock concerts, musicals with a pit orchestra and dramatic plays and we want the overhead to be reasonable. It can be done sooner rather than later and, frankly, I think you owe it to us. We (the artists) are a big part of this community and after all of the parks and libraries and council facilities are improved we are next in line.
Let’s work together now to get community seed money and explore all city options to make this work.
Bill Bixler