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| Rendering credit: Frederick Fisher Partners "Keep Bergamot Bergamot. Focus on the Arts." Joe Coriaty of Frederick Fisher Partners |
What Say You? Bergamot Station. Art, Artists and the Expo Line.
SUSAN CLOKE
Columnist
Pausing to catch her breath, the speaker at the podium
explained she had raced up the steps to Council Chambers. She was part of the overflow audience in
the lobby below waiting her turn to speak at the Council hearing on the future
of the Santa Monica arts venue, Bergamot Station.
The public hearing was a testament to the
democratic process and, just in case anyone didn’t already know it, a display
of the wealth of artists and artistic knowledge that is an essential part of the
Santa Monica ethos, a distinguishing character of Santa Monica culture.
More than 100 people spoke to the Council about
the importance of Bergamot Station.
Speakers expressed their concern that Bergamot remain an open, inviting,
accessible and vibrant arts center.
They used words such as authentic and asked that site development
continue and expand the focus on the arts.
The Council was warned against formulaic entities
that could be built anywhere, but if built at Bergamot would diminish the
meaning of Bergamot Station in a way that could not be reclaimed. They spoke of Bergamot being a nationally
known center for the arts. They spoke
about the arts and about environmental sustainability, about education and
community.
The issue was not whether or not to
develop. The issue was how much
development. What would be the
character of that development? How
would it be financed? Who would be
the developer?
Many thoughtful and thought provoking ideas were
presented and discussed. William
Turner, a gallerist, and member of the Bergamot Station Gallery Cultural
Association, talked about the stakeholders and proposed the formation of a
‘working group’ to pair with the City and the developer.
The tantalizing information of interest in
Bergamot Station from the stellar musical group Jacaranda and from Cal Arts and
UCLA to be cultural non-profit partners shows both the importance of Bergamot
Station in the arts world and the continually increasing opportunities for the
arts in Santa Monica.
At the conclusion of over 4 hours of public
testimony it was the Council’s turn.
Council Member Kevin McKeown opened the discussion on Bergamot saying,
“We must build, but do it without losing the authenticity of Bergamot and the
existing galleries and Museum.”
Council Member Gleam Davis said, "Everyone
agrees that Bergamot is special and that we have to keep it special. The question is how to bring Expo into
the mix and maintain what has organically developed over the last 20 years.”
Council Member Tony Vazquez then moved that “the
Worthe team be selected as the partner for the project and that a working group
be formed to work with the development team and the City.”
Vazquez specifically excluded the staff
recommended language that the “vision be affirmed” as he wanted the vision to
be part of the work of the development team, the working group the City and the
community.
McKeown seconded the motion and Davis asked for
a friendly amendment for setting time frames for the stages of the process.
Council Member Winterer suggested that the
development team be asked to form a working group for Council approval. Winterer suggested that would help
expedite the process as the Worthe team had a good knowledge of the
stakeholders.
Council Member Holbrook suggested that it would
be a mistake to select the Worthe team as it was clear that extra, nearby land
was going to be needed to meet the goals of the project and that the TOD team,
also under consideration, already owned nearby land.
There was general discussion among the Council
Members about the importance of the labor peace agreements (a term of art for a specific type of
agreement between unions and employers) which the Worthe team and the union had
already completed; the importance of phasing the project to first renovate the
gallery buildings; how to protect the galleries and the museum; and questions
about how to continue the subsidy to the Big Blue Bus and other financial
considerations.
It was after midnight when the motion to select
the Worthe team as the development partner was passed. Council Members Vazquez, McKeown, O’Day,
Davis and Winterer voted yes.
Council Member Holbrook voted no.
Council Member O’Connor was not present.
Gallerist William Turner said, “We’re thrilled
that the Council heard us loud and clear.
They got the need to
protect and preserve the valuable and fragile resource that is Bergamot.
“We’ve received tremendous support from the
Neighborhood Groups and the Santa Monica community. Artists, students, residents, community members and visitors
all benefit from the work of Bergamot Station. People depend on the free and open access to the arts that
defines Bergamot Station. It’s
important that we tread carefully and don’t lose what we have as we reach for
more.
“We’re ecstatic that the Council accepted the
idea of the formation of a working group.
There’s no way to get a better product than to work with stakeholders throughout
the process.
“All teams were persuasive but we’re very
comfortable with the Worthe team as they had, as part of the team, the
architects who were here at the beginning when we first formed Bergamot. Their proposal seemed to best get what
is needed now.”
Fred Fisher of Frederick Fisher and Partners, the
architects with the Worthe team said, “My partner Joe Coriaty and I were so
fortunate to be in at the beginning of Bergamot Station and now, to be here
again and to have the opportunity to design an arts center at the 26th
and Olympic stop on the Expo Line is to be part of the next generation of life
in the urban growth of the City.
For us, as architects, it doesn’t
get better than that.
“We know we’re in
for an intense process and that this is just the start of an engagement with
gallerists, the museum, residents and neighbors, the community and the
City. The shape of the project
will come out of the process but the process needs the participation of all the
stakeholders.”
The City of Santa
Monica slogan “We do the right thing right” was evident at the September 9
hearing for Bergamot Station. It
was shown in the respect and thoughtfulness of the public speakers, the quality
of the teams being considered, the work of staff and the deliberations and
decisions of the Council Members.
Bergamot Station
was once a train station. With the
Expo line the train will be back. It’s
also another beginning. An optimistic
beginning of imagining and shaping the future of the arts at Bergamot Station.
What Say You?
