Dear Editor,
If you ever want to know how Santa Monica City Council members feel about a certain issue, you’d be wise to look beyond the latest Council meeting agenda for answers.
I say this because our new Council (which includes four new members and three others with less than a full term on the job) has given the group trying to save and renovate the Civic Auditorium only until Friday, February 28th, to make a deal and never even mentioned it during Tuesday’s Council meeting.
But I did, right off the bat. Item 1: Public Input. That’s when anyone can comment for two minutes on any item or issue not listed on the agenda. I packed a lot in that two minutes, briefly reminding our younger Council newcomers about the Civic’s storied past, but focusing more on how its potential second life could help revitalize a downtown which struggled even before the pandemic and continues to languish because of public safety issues, a financially-strapped mall, a Promenade that’s past its prime and now the Palisades Fire.
I told them how other Councils had made Civic mistakes, how the city never really marketed it all that well and how red tape and rising costs made it increasingly harder for promoters to rent it, fill it and still turn a profit. I learned all this as a member of the original ‘Save the Civic’ group in 2012, when experts with the Urban Land Institute concluded the city should “Set the dream and renovate the Civic as a cultural icon.” I was also there at City Council the night the Santa Monica Symphony’s late conductor, Guido Lamell, brought his violin to City Hall and played his case for the Civic’s saving. But his beautiful song, that Council and that effort, ultimately failed.
Other Councils lacked the foresight to somehow re-direct all the money that built the Broad Theater/SMC Theater complex at 11th & nowhere, and renovate the Civic instead. City Hall also failed to save our only bowling alley and all those yummy restaurants and shops across the street on Pico that could have created and enhanced a re-opened Civic experience. Who wouldn’t want to have a nice dinner downtown, see a show at the new Civic, then go for a short stroll at the beach before heading home?
A renovated Civic Auditorium could be just what our city needs to resurrect and revitalize our downtown core. Imagine performers such as Sting doing a two or three-week engagement, followed by five nights of the Foo Fighters unplugged or a run of Beyonce at the Beach performances.
The five entities that make up RPG, the Revitalization Partners Group behind this current restoration effort, include concert pros such as ‘Live Nation’ and the ‘Azoff Group.’ RPG says they can re-create the Civic, preserve much of its landmarked features and bring in world-class entertainers at no cost to the city.
This week one City Council member penned an editorial against the idea under the headline, ‘Save the Civic or Save the City.’
Why can’t we do both?
Maybe the Civic can save the CITY.
Bottom line: The current Council should give these new negotiations a fighting chance. Let’s see the numbers and a detailed proposal. Let’s see what RPG can come up with. Did you know two of the RPG principals lost their homes during the fires? But that didn’t stop them from also quickly putting together the Fire Aid Concert that raised $100 million dollars for fire relief. Sounds exactly like the kind of people we need to help the Civic earn its new future as Southern California’s premiere beachside concert venue.
Voters have long forgotten the mistakes of past Council members who failed to seal a deal, but they will most certainly remember this current Council as either the one made the biggest mistake of all and killed the Civic forever… or the council that made history and saved it.
Sincerely,
John C. Smith, Santa Monica Recreation and Parks Commissioner
