Madison Theater Wins Approval

By Erica Williams
Staff Writer

August 8 -- The Santa Monica College Board of Trustees unanimously approved the 535-seat Madison Theater project this week, ending an at times daunting four-year effort to turn the $18 million project into a reality.

SMC President Dr. Piedad Robertson called the final vote Monday “an historical moment” for the college and the city, adding that the Westside will gain a major cultural arts venue that will offer performances and exhibits the likes of which are more typically seen in Downtown Los Angeles.

“I hope that we could create a cultural world for the citizens of Santa Monica so they don’t have to get on the (I-10) and go to the Dorothy Chandler,” Robertson said. “This has been a long, long time effort. It’s nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

SMC Spokesman Bruce Smith said the college was able to overcome most neighbors’ concerns about traffic and noise impacts and win overwhelming support for the project, thanks in large part to “extensive outreach” that included formation of the Madison advisory board.

“I really do feel that the college made this extensive outreach and incorporated many of the community’s suggestions into the EIR (Environmental Impact Report),” Smith said.
“We generally went above and beyond what is required for a project of this kind.”

The next step in the development of the 32,000-square-foot facility at SMC’s Madison campus on 11th Street and Arizona Avenue is to submit architectural drawings to the California State Office of Architecture, which must put its stamp of approval on the final design of an educational facility.

Those plans should be submitted by October and the process completed by January at the latest, Robertson said. She then anticipates a ceremonial groundbreaking “by late spring/early summer” with completion projected in two years.

SMC’s music department will take up residence at the new state-of-the-art facility, Robertson added, which will also house an art gallery where visual arts students can exhibit their work.

Music department head, Jim Smith, and students are thrilled, Robertson said, at the opportunity “to have a true concert hall and to be able to perform and be able to really create music that can be enjoyed by everyone.”

She noted that next year is SMC’s 75th anniversary, making the start of construction fitting.

“We think it’s time that an institution that has been around for 75 years have a performing arts (theater),” Robertson said.

The Madison Theater will be solely supported by private funds, Smith said. So far, about $8 million of its $18 million needed has been raised.

The project has the backing of such luminaries as Dustin Hoffman, Placido Domingo, Lula Washington, Edward James Olmos and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Hoffman is the Honorary Chair of the fund-raising campaign, Smith said.