A Top Performance at Madison Campus

By Gene Williams
Staff Writer

October 11 -- Work at Santa Monica College’s new $39-million performing arts complex completed a major stage Monday as a large crane raised the last steel beam into place at the Madison Campus.

The ceremonial event -- attended by college officials, architects and construction workers -- marked a milestone for the 32,000 square-foot state-of-the-art theater expected to bring top-quality performances to Santa Monica when it’s completed in 2007, college officials said.

“What you see is the skeleton of the structure,” Acting College President Tom Donner said standing in front of the massive iron framework. “I think we all agree that the beauty of the building will be starting in the next stage.”

Acting College President Tom Donner (second from right) joins architects construction workers and other college officials in signing the steel beam. (Photos by Gene Williams)

Over the next year, workers will clad the frame with large panes of glass and slabs of basaltina, a dark gray volcanic stone from Italy, said the project’s architect Renzo Zecchetto. The interior space will blend a variety of materials including wood, stone and plaster.

Surrounding the facility will be a landscape including gardens, a fountain and reflecting pool and a 301-space parking lot.

Meanwhile, the rest of the campus at 11th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard is being renovated to accommodate the college’s music department and the existing auditorium is being converted into a rehearsal hall.

When the dust settles, the new performing and visual arts complex will be home to the Santa Monica College Academy of Music and the Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery, college officials said.

Programs in the new theater will include “everything from jazz to chamber music to dance, film, vocal music, lectures and educational activities,” said Dale Franzen, the college’s director of performing arts.

But college officials aren’t stopping there. Along with student and amateur performers, the 541-seat theater will also provide a much needed venue for professional actors, musicians and dancers to bring their talents to Santa Monica, they said.

“There’s nothing like this on the Westside. We’re really filling a need,” said Franzen, who began pushing for the project long before ground was broken early this year.

Architect's rendering of theater exterior. (Courtesy of Renzo Zecchetto)

During Monday’s ceremony -- where key players signed the large I-beam before it was hoisted to the top of the building -- Franzen handed out roses and hammers, symbols of beauty and of hard work and courage.

“Projects like this only come together when there is leadership and vision,” she remarked, apparently reflecting on the long struggle it took to get the project moving in a town that is skeptical of development.

Befitting a dramatic venue, for more than three years, the proposed performing arts theater on the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District-owned site was the staging ground for a political battle of wills between college and City officials.

College officials maintained SMC had the jurisdiction to move ahead without City approvals, while City officials felt the community should have a greater say in a decision that would affect a residential neighborhood.

In the end, the college won the approval of the community and the necessary votes to go forward with the project.

After numerous brainstorming sessions, fundraising events, public meetings and government decisions, the SMC board of trustees voted late last year to award a contract to builders FTR International, Inc., of Irvine.

The final steel beam is hoisted into place.

The project is funded with $24 million from Measure S, the $135 million bond Santa Monica and Malibu voters approved in November 2004.

Another $3 million comes from Measure U, a college bond approved by voters in 2002, with as much as another $1 million available for a contingency.

In addition, $1 million for the parking improvements will come from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Most of the balance is bankrolled with funds raised privately by the SMC Foundation, which aside from raising funds and meeting with arts and community organizations and individuals throughout Santa Monica and Southern California, began a highly successful free Madison performance series, now in its fifth year.

Construction of the new theater has been going smoothly since ground was broken in January of this year, officials said. (see related story)

If they stay on schedule, show time should come in early 2007.