Council Meeting: November 13, 2001 Santa
Monica, California
To: Mayor and City Council
Library Boardmembers
From: City Staff
Subject: Joint meeting of the City Council and Library Board for the purpose of hearing public input and discussing the conceptual plan for a new Main Library
This
report describes the draft conceptual plan for the new Main Library and the
community process developed to create the plan. It also reviews the
developments regarding the Stanton Macdonald-Wright mural originally installed
in the Santa Monica Main Library and now held by the Smithsonian Institution.
In
the early 1980’s there was concern among Library users that the Santa Monica
Public Library was overcrowded and losing the ability to house the services and
collections the community needed. Actual planning for a larger Main Library
began in 1986 with a space needs analysis prepared by Robert Rohlf, including
an evaluation of alternate locations for the Library. Active community members led
the pursuit for additional land for Library expansion and conducted a
successful campaign in 1988 to fund the purchase of adjacent property. When the
Main Library was significantly damaged in the 1994 earthquake, a library master
plan was developed to incorporate the needed repairs into a guide for future
growth. This process included substantial public input.
On
September 25, 2001 Council approved a revised approach for the Main Library
Expansion Project, involving replacement of the existing building with a newly
constructed facility. With that approval, Moore Ruble Yudell Architects (MRY)
began the design process based on the established building program.
The
Library planning process involved library supporters, the community at large
and Library staff. Outreach efforts have included community meetings, community
focus groups, extensive staff interviews, and close involvement by both the
Library Board and the Friends of the Library and spanned from 1996 to 2001.
Open
community meetings have provided opportunities to review and discuss possible
new library features and services, as well as structured opportunities to
identify features people either liked or did not like about the current
facility. Focus groups were convened to further explore concepts and included
individuals from the neighborhood organizations and business community, senior
citizens, parents and teachers, children, teens, volunteers, booksellers, and
others. Based upon community and staff input a host of possible services were
identified. A survey process was used at the Main Library and each of the
Branch Libraries to collect community feedback and provide an opportunity for
members of the public to rank the service options. Public meetings of the
Library Board and the Friends of the Library were additional venues for
discussion.
To
reach a wider audience, presentations were made to a broad range of community
organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce, school board, League of Women
Voters, AARP, PTA, Kiwanis, YMCA, neighborhood associations, and others. A
regular survey of library users has been an ongoing channel for public input.
Early
in the review process MRY found that the costs of renovating the existing
facility versus demolishing and building an entirely new facility were nearly
equal. Over 3,700 local residents were invited to a public meeting on
September 15, to meet MRY, hear them reflect upon the many issues related to
library design, and discuss the concept of replacing the existing facility. It
had become clear to the project planning team that demolition of the building
would allow the features and services most desired by the community and most
responsive to environmental design standards to be realized in a cost-effective
and time efficient manner. The
community endorsed this approach and on September 25, 2001, City Council
approved demolition, shortening the project schedule by approximately two
years.
Conceptual Plan
The
design team began formulating the conceptual design based on the Library Master
Plan and the Library’s building program, which incorporate input from focus
groups, community members, library patrons and staff. They carefully considered
the community’s desire for light, space, garden/courtyard areas, outdoor
reading space, enhanced youth service, recognition of the importance of the
book, adequate technology, and the Library's role as a destination and new City
landmark. Also, practical matters such
as siting restrooms on the first floor, easy access to all library materials,
security, material retrieval drive-up window, and adequate seating/study space
have been carefully considered and incorporated into conceptual planning.
The
draft conceptual design for the new library combines responsiveness to the
environmental and urban design issues of its context in downtown Santa Monica,
with the Library's program needs, and the City’s desire to create a new
landmark reflecting the community’s appreciation for, and support of, a quality
library in this community.
Library
program space totaling 104,000 square feet is planned. Initial concepts suggest
an inviting and welcoming openness to the library as seen from Santa Monica
Blvd., 6th and 7th Streets. Windows revealing popular
collections and reading areas, children’s activities, and inner courtyard
gardens would invite long time and new users into what might be characterized
as the community's living-room.
A
theme that has inspired conceptual planning is the idea of "activity at
the edges". Multiple building entries, on all three streets, are being
considered to draw the community from all sides and activate the street edges.
From the streets, entrances might be approached through garden courts. One of
the concepts under consideration is a paseo that would traverse the Library
from 7th Street to 6th Street, engaging the Library with
its neighbors, including the YMCA to the west and the Historical Museum which
might be located at 7th Street. The design also features community facilities,
such as the auditorium and public meeting rooms, that would have their own
access and which could be used at different hours from the library itself.
These would also take advantage of outdoor space for entry and to allow certain
programs to spill outdoors. Multiple entries
to the control area of the library itself would be arranged to facilitate
efficient monitoring from a central control point inside the library.
Underground
parking is being planned with clear way-finding, and elevators placed to serve
library users as well as the public at large. Elevators from parking arrive
outside the library's control area, facilitating use of meeting rooms by the
public, on a controlled basis, when the Library is closed.
Planning
within the library would emphasize continuity of the collections and clarity of
movement. Popular library material collections and youth services would be
located on the first floor, while reference, periodicals, computer commons and
electronic classroom would be on the second floor. A variety of reading spaces are planned, distributed throughout
the library, from an open two-story reading space to small groupings of carrels
and tables along window-walls. On the second floor there has been consideration
of a comfortable seating area that faces out toward the west allowing readers
to look out windows down Santa Monica Boulevard to the ocean.
Two
entrances to the library, one to the south off Santa Monica Boulevard and the
other from the north off 6th Street, would be linked by a main hall creating a
north/south axis through the Library, monitored by the circulation and
information/security desks. An interior gallery parallel to Santa Monica
Boulevard could provide access to the library's collections and reading areas.
Proposals include a main reading room, conceptualized as a high, open, light
filled room reminiscent of the existing library's two-story space, but with
expanded views to the outside.
A
key feature being considered by the design team is a central garden courtyard,
truly at the heart of the library. Fully within the library's control area, the
central court would visually and functionally expand the interior space around
it, taking advantage of Santa Monica's year-round climate. The central garden
would be freely accessible for users to take materials outside for reading, as
well as for reflection and repose. A small café or beverage stand is being
considered to activate the informal use of the courtyard.
Currently,
design alternatives are being explored on several fronts, including aspects of
functional relationships, structural grid and roof system, outdoor space
design, and opportunities for architectural expression.
The
predominant theme of the conceptual planning is one of light and openness,
which has led to the Library Board's characterization: “The Library: a place of
enlightenment.”
The attachments describe the environmental and urban
context issues that form a baseline for the design. The draft conceptual plan
will be presented at the November 13, 2001, City Council meeting.
Stanton Macdonald-Wright Mural
Prior to its current location, the Santa Monica
Public Library’s Main Branch was located in a facility on Fifth Street. That
building housed an elaborate, site-specific mural painted by Stanton
Macdonald-Wright in the 1930’s under the WPA. When the building was demolished
in 1966 the mural was donated to the Smithsonian Institution. At the February
13, 2001 City Council meeting, Councilmembers requested that staff explore the
feasibility of re-acquiring the mural for the City.
Coincidentally, eight of the thirty panels that make
up the mural were recently included in a Macdonald-Wright exhibit at the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). When staff contacted the Smithsonian to
inquire about returning the mural to the City, they responded that the Smithsonian
is in the midst of reopening a major American Art facility and reorganizing the
storage of its collections, but they would be willing to consider a loan of the
eight panels in the LACMA exhibit. These eight panels are the only portions of
the mural currently available to the City.
In order to approve an extended loan of any part of
the Macdonald-Wright mural for display in the new Main Library, the Smithsonian
must first receive a completed facility report, which in turn cannot be
completed until the new Main Library is completed. In the meantime, they agreed
to allow the City to store the eight panels from the LACMA exhibit in a local
fine art storage facility. It now appears that one of the panels may be
retained at LACMA until the Library is completed.
With
this presentation of the preliminary concept, MRY is soliciting input and
comments to further refine the plan. It is anticipated that staff will return
to Council with a final draft of the conceptual plan on December 18 for
approval and authorization to proceed with schematic design and the EIR
process.
Staff
recommends that Council and the Library Board review the draft conceptual plan
features, comment on them and approve further development.
Prepared by: Wini Allard, City Librarian
Greg Mullen, Assistant City
Librarian
Attachment 1: Site Context
Attachment 2: Site Analysis
Attachment 3: Program
Analysis
