SANTA MONICA—Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole, has come out publicly and recommended funding for a temporary public sports field that would be located in the Civic Center.
This comes after the Santa Monica City Council decided back in February 2016 to move forward on making changes to the Civic Auditorium only and not began breaking ground on a much-needed sports field that the City Council promised the people back in 2005, according to a report by the Santa Monica Mirror.
In addition to the Civic Auditorium, council green-lit an Early Childhood Education Center (ECEC) on public land at the Civic Center, but not a sports field.
The statement from City Manager Cole calls for an accelerated planning and construction schedule and recommends that the designs include synthetic turf, fencing, lighting and portable restrooms.
“Recognizing that field spa e for our community is imperative, as City Manager, I’m recommending immediate funding to design a ‘temporary’ multi-use sports field in the Civic Center with synthetic turf, fencing, lighting and portable restrooms. It is premature to program construction funding from three reasons: (1) the design process will give us a much more accurate estimate of the project’s actual construction cost (currently reflected as $3.25 million in FY 18-19); (2) we will be working with our partners at the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District on opportunities for joint use and perhaps some form of joint funding; and (3) we will need to work with the Coastal Commission and the County Courts on strategies for addressing the loss of parking in the Civic Center and coastal area.I have heard from a number of community members that the timeline to start construction of the field is too far out. Constructing a field is many facets. We have put together the following rough and very accelerated planning and construction schedule, recognizing the potential for unanticipated delays:
I have heard from a number of community members that the timeline to start construction of the field is too far out. Constructing a field is many facets. We have put together the following rough and very accelerated planning and construction schedule, recognizing the potential for unanticipated delays:
- Council Approval of Capital Improvement Budget – June 2016
- RFP for design, evaluate proposals, Council approval, and contract execution – October
2016 - Design development, community outreach, and Coastal Commission approval (contingent upon parking relocation) – May 2017
- Construction documentation – July 2017
- Plan check – January 2018
- Issue bids for construction, evaluation, Council award, contract execution – June 2018
- Construction start – July 2018
We will work as quickly as possible to effectuate Council’s direction to ensure implementation of this element of the Civic Center Master Plan and the community’s desire for a temporary sports field,” said Cole.
