Conservancy News

The Civic Auditorium is an iconic mid-20th century architectural landmark, with a history woven into our community’s memories. In addition to being a City landmark, it is eligible for state and national recognition for its architectural and cultural significance. The Civic is also a site of erasure that points to the social and economic impact of 1950s era redevelopment policies which displaced hundreds of Black households in Santa Monica. All of these stories should be acknowledged through preservation and our continued community use.

The Civic has been closed since 2013 and was declared as surplus property by the City in October 2022. Prior to its closure, it was being used for flat-floor trade shows.

Passion for preservation of the Civic Auditorium by residents has recently emerged in response to closed City Council meeting sessions this past July. During the closed sessions, Council considered the Civic’s potential sale to two bidders: Community Corporation for affordable housing (this proposal has since been rejected) and the Santa Monica Unified School District for sports and gymnasium uses. Letters objecting to the disposal of such a valuable community asset in an opaque process without public discussion or debate have flooded City Council. The lack of transparency and focus on short-term financial gain upset many residents who view this building as defining to our cultural identity. Many are working to form a new group called Save the Civic.

The Santa Monica Conservancy welcomes these voices, as they echo the recommendations of the Civic Working Group, which made a comprehensive report on the future of the Civic Auditorium to City Council in December 2015. The Civic Working Group was a multi-year community engagement project to investigate potential futures for the site. Led by Conservancy Board Member Nina Fresco, the process involved extensive City staff resources, robust community participation, workshops, and exhaustive exploration of alternatives.

The Working Group’s ultimate recommendation was to continue the Civic’s original cultural arts and entertainment mixed-use, to serve as the anchor of a new 10-acre cultural center repurposing the surface parking lots surrounding the Auditorium. However, subsequent to the Working Group’s report, the City chose to proceed with the installation of a Sports Field on the surface parking area in accordance with the approved Civic Center Specific Plan, thus limiting development options. Click here to read that plan.  Then, in 2017 the City issued a Request for Proposals for a long-term ground lease for a public/private partnership. This effort was not successful, leading to the current City strategy to declare the property as Surplus Land for sale or long-term lease to potential bidders.

Between 2019-2021 the Department of Cultural Affairs produced a public art project called Belmar History + Art on part of the original Civic Auditorium site. This inspired the Department’s Reframe initiative that is currently focused on the murals in City Hall. Belmar History + Art saw artist April Banks and Historian Alison Rose Jefferson work together with community members to commemorate and celebrate the predominantly Black neighborhood of Belmar, that was razed through eminent domain to make way for the Civic in the 1950s.The project was unveiled at what is now called Historic Belmar Park in 2021, and consists of a history exhibition and sculptural installation adjacent to the sports field, as well as an educational program and website. Photo: A Resurrection in Four Stanzas by April Banks, courtesy of Santa Monica Department of Cultural Affairs. 

In historic preservation, the best use of a vacant landmark is always the original use. But adaptive reuse can also be successful if the use fits and does not require substantial alterations that undermine the building’s ability to convey its historic significance and architectural value. We hope that the existing SMMUSD proposal will include some public community uses and look forward to information from them.

Santa Monica prides itself on being a leader in arts and cultural activities. But the challenges for the Civic are daunting – there are significant costs for rehabilitation (in 2009 estimated at $59 million) – and past proposals show that City funding may be required to entice a worthy developer to define its operations.

The bottom line for the Conservancy is ultimately the survival and renewed life for this landmark building via a successful rehabilitation project that meets preservation standards, whether it continues as a performance and community event space or in an adaptive reuse project for Santa Monica families and children.

Review the storied history of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in the Landmarks Commission Statement of Official Action here.

By Carol Lemlein and Ruthann Lehrer, Advocacy Committee Co-Chairs

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