Conservancy News

On October 11, 2022 Santa Monica Conservancy City Council voted to designate the Civic Auditorium as surplus land. This decision instigated the current process in which the City is actively engaged in negotiations to sell or lease the site per the State’s Surplus Land Act Guidelines.

There is currently much public discussion and speculation swirling about the status of the Civic. To date, the City has conducted meetings that will determine the fate of the historic landmark in closed session. The Conservancy continues to press for more details about any and all proposals so that we can confirm for the community that historic preservation goals are being met.

The City and proposers need to come forward and engage in a conversation about the status of this nationally significant building!

A vacant building is always at risk. The Civic Auditorium has been shuttered since 2013 and remains vulnerable to seismic events and other hazards. The Conservancy’s overarching priority is to encourage the City to find a viable use and rehabilitation strategy as soon as possible that will ensure the building’s integrity and status as a valued Santa Monica Historic Landmark.

The Civic Auditorium is an excellent example of mid-20th century International Style by world-famous master architect and Santa Monica resident Welton Becket. The history of activities at the Civic is woven into our community’s memories and it stands today as a resource eligible for national recognition.

Our expectations—which we issued to the City in a letter dated July 17—are that as a condition of any sale or lease, there will be language in the transaction to retain permanent Landmark status and that all work at the property will comply with Secretary of the Interior Standards for Historic Preservation. These guidelines for Landmarks allow flexibility to accommodate new functional requirements while protecting key architectural elements, balancing preservation and change.

Continue to watch our website and your inbox for important updates and calls to action as the situation develops!! If you are not already subscribed to our email list, you can do so by clicking here.

On July 21^st, the City posted information on their public website to explain the Surplus Land Act and provide current information as to how this applies to the sale/lease of the Civic Auditorium. On July 26 this was updated to indicate that there is one proposal being reviewed from SMMUSD and that proposal is being reviewed in closed session.

Click here to read the City’s FAQS for Designation of the Civic Auditorium as Surplus Land.

The Conservancy remains committed to the preservation of the landmark Civic Auditorium and any proposal for adaptive reuse and rehabilitation should follow the Secretary of the Interior Standards such that the historic resource retains integrity as an important work of architecture and cultural heritage for the community.

There is much public discussion around the status of the Civic at this time due the lack of transparency surrounding the process; the City should provide further information to the public.

We encourage the City to be forthcoming with information about any sale/lease proposals such that the Conservancy can confirm for the community that historic preservation goals are being met.

• Permanent retention of the Civic as a Santa Monica Designated Landmark
• Review of any work required for rehabilitation and/or update of the building will follow standard City processes for designated properties
• Conformance with Secretary of the Interior Standards for all work at the historic site

Spring is gone except for a few straggling blossoms reminding us that we had an absolutely, gorgeous Spring bloom this year with an abundance of bright orange California poppies plus two new annual wildflowers:

• The diminutive yellow Beach Evening Primrose. They are also called Beach Suncup and have shown us the lovely way they spread their silvery grey-green leaves to bask in the sun.
• The taller Mountain Phlox has softly spiked stems which are each topped with a cluster of five-petaled white blossoms.

There are only a few of these annual blooms left, which tells us for sure Summer has arrived. Here are some of its vivid colors:

From the street you can see the bright pom poms of Red Buckwheat which are in front of the bushy bright red Island Snapdragon and, to the south, the shorter scarlet California Fuchsia. If red is not your favorite color, check out the tall flat tops of white yarrow interspersed with the bold plates of golden yarrow. And notice how the white yarrow has deep green foliage while the yellow yarrow has gray green leaves. They’re cousins (feathery foliage and corymb or flat-topped blooms), but they don’t dress alike!

If you’re intrigued by the garden’s aroma, pinch a leaf from the Coyote Mint that snuggles up to the front porch or crumble some of the thin gray-green leaves from the California Sagebrush on the other side of the walk. Both these plants have been nicknamed Coyboy Cologne. But only one of them makes good tea—the mint (sagebrush is bitter!).

Fall is the preferred time to plant California natives, but the Santa Monica Conservancy was able to get a couple of new additions started this Spring in weather which seemed to be endlessly cooler than normal and even gave us rain.

• We added a Cleveland Sage next to the front porch on the south side of the garden. Sages (along with mint and sagebrush) are known for their fragrance and this one is a favorite for many people. We’ll be happy to have you brush against it as it fills in its new space.
• We also added a Desert Willow on the south side of the house. It’s in the trumpet vine family and has showy clusters of blossoms that are a rich lavender color (adding to our rainbow of colors) and very attractive to hummingbirds.

One more thing that’s always a delight to see in the garden is the onslaught of Monarch butterfly caterpillars that happens every summer. We have a little forest of milkweed plants in the garden bed on the south side of the house. Depending on the caterpillars’ growth cycle, the plants may look full, lush and leafy green or they may look like spindly, denuded stick figures. The Monarch butterflies seem to know exactly when to lay their eggs, and the milkweed seems to be invigorated by getting an annual crew cut from the caterpillars. We often have more than 15 caterpillars munching at once. Look closely. See how many you can count.

By Hilda Weiss

Photos from left to right: A ladybug crawls on the Coyote Mint, the Desert Willow’s spring bloom, and a chrysalis hangs beneath the siding of the Shotgun House

During our Annual Meeting on June 10, we recognized seven exemplary contributors to the preservation of Santa Monica’s architectural and cultural heritage. The awards were announced by members of the Awards Committee including David Kaplan (chair), Margarita Jerabek, Ruthann Lehrer, and Carol Lemlein. Special guest, Councilmember Caroline Torosis, and Conservancy Board President Tom Cleys presented the awards to each project team and individual honoree.

2023 Preservation Award Winners
Cultural Heritage Award: Broadway to Freeway: Life and Times of a Vibrant Community, Santa Monica History Museum with the Quinn Research Center
Cultural Heritage Award: Culture Mapping 90404, 18th Street Arts Center
Rehabilitation and Adaptive Reuse Award: Sears Building
Rehabilitation Award: The Georgian Hotel
Media Award: The Street Seen, Mark Gorman
Volunteer Award: Catherine Conkle
Volunteer Award: Robin Venturelli

Click here to read all about this year’s winning projects and individuals, who collectively  demonstrate that the field of historic preservation in Santa Monica is multidisciplinary, collaborative, creative, and rooted in authentic storytelling about people and place.

The Conservancy congratulates these exemplary individuals, organizations, and teams for their preservation, advocacy, and stewardship in our city!