City asks for community input on future performing arts center
”Dream big” was the message at a community outreach meeting at City Hall to gather input on what residents want in a new performing arts center identified by stakeholders as a project to be built on city-owned land in Malibu.
Initial outreach for the city conducted by Tripepi Smith Marketing cited a performing arts venue as a needed asset for the creative community in Malibu and a strategy for providing space to families seeking creative outlets for children close to home.
The proposed site for the center has been identified for the parcel formerly known as the La Paz lot, now called Cross Creek Ranch, located on Civic Center Way on the north end of the new commercial development. The City Council authorized staff to work with the developers of that new space, Pacific Equity Properties, Inc., to create a conceptual rendering for a potential performing arts center. That developer has not secured a contract on a new center, however.
The site was identified for use in part because some of the other civic center area Malibu-owned parcels are currently being used to support fire recovery efforts, staging, and essential services.
The proposed project is situated adjacent to the new development that already includes a spacious underground parking lot that could be shared or used for evening performances and events when office workers in the development are off-site. Tenants, including restaurants, are said to be ready to sign leases, which could possibly accommodate food service needs to the arts constituency.
A 20,000-square-foot center is being proposed for the site, an idea some questioned as problematic due to the footprint of the parcel that includes a large hillside outcropping that will not be demolished. But, with so much square footage to play with, there were plenty of suggestions on how to develop the space.
The Malibu Arts Commission and area residents met July 30 at City Hall to voice their suggestions on what amenities a newly built art-focused center should include.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voting member Julie Carmen suggested some essentials, including a wood sprung floor, a child safe space with glass windows for parents to observe, boys and girls locker rooms with restrooms, and a larger space that can be used for community serving organizations such as the Malibu Film Society or the Young Actors Project that lost their former home at the Malibu Playhouse. “Please reserve theater and rehearsal space for vetted local nonprofits to use, but not be forced to pay fair market rent,” Carmen implored.
Arts Commissioner Dennis Smith said he’d like the center to include an art gallery or possible museum space for local and visiting exhibits. Others agreed and asked for a sculpture garden to be incorporated into the design.
Malibu Film Society Board President Scott Tallal asked, “Is this space going to be local-serving or visitor-serving? If it’s visitor-serving and you want concerts and really big events to come in, then you need to keep a 300-seat theater. If you want to be local-serving, you have to look at the experience of the two largest venues that we have in Malibu.” Tallal cited Smothers Theater at Pepperdine University, which he said can be hard to fill at 400 seats. The other is the Malibu Film Society, which he said rarely sells 200. “The reason I’m asking this question is that if you reduce the size of a large room, that frees out space for rehearsal halls, and recital halls, and other spaces that can be utilized or to create community as well as for the audience.”
Others were skeptical about building entirely, in calling it a redundancy to the auditorium space already available at City Hall, and questioned whether the city would be able to fund such an ambitious project. Former Councilmember Paul Grisanti answered that query saying, “There are other people in this community who are raising children here. They’ll do anything to get what they want. They’re working with us on the schools. They’ll work with us on building things that work. If you give them a project, they will want to sign on and be sponsors of it. And it’s as simple as that…You don’t accomplish anything by insisting that you really want to have all the financing lined up right now before we draw the first thing. If you draw something that people like and want, they will find a way to help the city pay for it.”
The Arts Commission will review the feedback and form recommendations for City Council to consider. More information is set to be discussed at a future City Council meeting.
Go to MalibuCommunityLands.org for more.