Booking the Future

By Erica Williams

Jan. 29 -- With moving day fast approaching, the City Council Tuesday night voted 6 to 1 to approve $57 million to build a new Main Library and $2.8 million to tear down the existing structure, but not before sending the blueprints back to the drawing board for further tweaking.

Dissatisfied with the changes made by the architect to address concerns echoed by the Planning Commission, council members voted 5 to 2 to add more green space and change the façade finish at the base of the building in a quest to further enhance the structure's pedestrian experience.

Several council members expressed dismay at what they considered minimal changes to the proposed landscaping around the 102,508-square-foot, two-story project, with one member dubbing the building's sharp corners and flat concrete facades "harshscape."

"There's a brutality to it," said Councilman Herb Katz, who is an architect.

Architect John Ruble, of Moore Ruble Yudell, disagreed that there's wasn't enough greenery, saying he thought there was "quite a lot of landscaping" and that the council needed to take a look at the character of the building.

"What's really critical is that you don't have fringe landscaping," Ruble argued, adding that the design aimed for "meaningful landscaping at entry ways and where activities occur."

Another of the design's goals was for "multiple layers of scape," Ruble said, pointing to the 18-inch "rusticated" base of stone blocks that had been incorporated to make the structure more visually appealing. Ruble cited municipal buildings in cities, such as Florence, that have a similar "strong base."

But few were impressed with the architect's European allusions. Councilman Ken Genser, summing up the council's feeling, said that the building "looks very much like an industrial building" and still was not pedestrian friendly.

However, with construction slated to begin May 1, Council member Pam O'Connor voted against making any more changes, citing worries that the process could go on forever.

O'Connor commended the architect for an impressive design that effectively "met that balance between function and aesthetics." She urged the council to move forward and accept the virtues of the project, while acknowledging that not everyone would be completely satisfied with the final design.

Councilman Holbrook voted against the design, as well as the funding, because the project lacked of an escalator, a feature he's been pushing for a year. Saying he risked becoming known as the "Escalator Man," Holbrook once again pressed the architect and City staff to correct the mistake of designing such a large structure without an escalator to accommodate the numbers of people using the building.

"It just is a missed opportunity to make it more accessible for people," Holbrook said after the meeting.

Assistant City Manager Gordon Anderson said staff had considered an escalator but decided it wasn't needed given the number of people slated to use the space. Anderson also pointed out that considering an escalator now would call for major redesign of the project and would involve considerable costs and delays.

In its 6 to 1 vote approving financing for the project, the council also voted to divert some $16.5 million away from other capital improvement projects to meet a funding gap due to cost increases. The diversion would not jeopardize those projects, which include the beach, pier and Santa Monica Boulevard projects, Anderson said.

Largely bankrolled with a $25 million bond passed by voters in 1998, the new library boasts nearly twice the floor space and nearly triples the parking space of the original. It also swells the existing 250,000-volume collection by 50,000.

In addition, the new library will include a community conference room, a tutoring room, a computer lab (with 50 computers), a children's room, an expanded main reading room, a new staff and boardroom and a center courtyard. The facility also will house the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum in 5,000 square feet of space.

The new structure -- which would extend into the current 189-space surface parking lot -- will include a three-level subterranean parking structure with 559 spaces accessed on 7th Street. At least 157 of the spaces will be available to Downtown motorists.

The new parking structure will be paid for with $12.9 million loaned by the City to its Earthquake Redevelopment Agency. In order to use the funds, the council, which was also acting as the agency, made the finding that the structure benefits the redevelopment area.

City officials hope the move will safeguard the funds from a plan by Gov. Gray Davis to use redevelopment money to bridge an historic $34.5 billion shortfall. Because the money is a debt, Anderson said, it would be off limits to the State.