To: PUBLIC ART COMMISSION
From: CAMERON HARDING, COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR
TITLE
title
RECEIVE AND FILE A PRESENTATION ON PROPOSED PUBLIC ARTWORK FOR THE TRANSIT CENTER
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON A RECOMMENDATION TO ALLOCATE ADDITIONAL FUNDING FROM THE JOHN PARSONS PUBLIC ART FUND TO THE TRANSIT CENTER PUBLIC ARTWORK PROJECT
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RECOMMENDATION
Discussion and possible action on a recommendation to allocate additional funding in an amount not to exceed $100,000 from the John Parsons Public Art Fund to the Transit Center public artwork project.title
BACKGROUND
The City’s new Transit Center is under construction at Kingsdale Avenue, adjacent to the Target retail store and across the street from the South Bay Galleria and South Bay Marketplace. The project was originally approved in Fiscal Year 2004-05 at a projected budget of $5,460,000. Due to a number of land, budget, planning, and external factors, the project was delayed. The fifteen-year delay and valuation at today’s dollars caused the project budget to be realized at $12,237,439. Construction is expected to be completed by January 2022, with transit services operating at the new location by February 2022.
The Transit Center is partially funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and as part of the FTA’s funding guidance, the inclusion of public art was encouraged and separately funded with dedicated Proposition A Local Return Transit Funds at $75,000. With the Transit funding, a systematic process of request for qualifications (RFQ) and request for proposals (RFP) for public art was undertaken by the Public Art Commission to identify potential public art for inclusion at the site of the transit center project. Ultimately, on April 19, 2011, the City Council unanimously approved a proposal by Volkan Alkanoglu for the public artwork “Gatewave” and a project budget of $75,000.
At the time of selection, Mr. Alkanoglu was in residence in Los Angeles and was teaching at Los Angeles based universities. Included in the artist’s original proposal and budget was the use of university students for research and assembly labor for the project. As of this report, the artist is based in Portland, OR and has completed many significant artworks. His art and additional information can be viewed at www.alkanoglu.com <http://www.alkanoglu.com>.
On November 18, 2020, the PAC approved the staff recommendation to allocate of $100,000 from the Public Art Fund to pay for increased costs, that are due to the span of time between the City Council’s approval of the artwork and the actual commencement of the transit center project, but also due to the artist’s current location and the absence of a student labor force. Since November, Mr. Alkanoglu has notified staff that due to additional delays, the project costs have increased and is requesting additional funding for the artwork. The revised budget for the artwork is $270,000.
On July 28, 2021, the Public Art Commission (PAC) considered the agenda item to recommend additional funding from the John Parson’s Public Art Fund for the public art project. The PAC did not approve the funding request, and recommended the continuation of the agenda item approval until the September 22, 2021 PAC meeting, and requested the artist, Mr. Alkanoglu. to attend and make a presentation, which is attached.
In order to complete the artist agreement with Mr. Alkanoglu for the “Gatewave” public artwork at the transit center, and to have the artwork installed at the new Redondo Beach Transit Center, it is recommended that an additional $100,000 from the John Parsons Public Art Fund be allocated to the “Gatewave” public artwork. The current balance of the Public Art Fund is $642,310.
The Commission may provide input and ultimately make a recommendation to the City Council. The City Council will make the final determination regarding the art fund allocation and would receive the Commission’s input and any recommendation as part of their deliberation. It should be noted that the Public Art Fund is projected to receive substantial impact fees from upcoming developments including, but not limited to, the Galleria project and One South project. Additionally, if Metro determines to operate the “C” Line (Green Line) along the existing railway, the location of the “Gatewave” artwork at the west end of the transit center will be the primary view of rail riders.
Regional and local transit bus operators that provide service to the RBTC include: Beach Cities Transit (BCT), Los Angeles Metro Bus, Torrance Transit, GTrans, and the Lawndale Beat. The transit operators will serve the RBTC during the majority of the day, starting at 5:00 a.m. and ending at 12:15 a.m. as shown in the table below.
Transit Operator’s Service Hours at the RBTC
|
Transit Operator |
# Routes |
Mon-Fri Service |
Saturday Service |
Sunday Service |
|
BCT |
1 |
6:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. |
8:25 a.m.-8:45 p.m. |
9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. |
|
Metro |
3 |
5 a.m.-1 a.m. |
5:30 a.m.-1 a.m. |
5:30 a.m.-1 a.m. |
|
GTrans |
2 |
6:25 a.m.-9:15 p.m. |
6:30 a.m.-6:45 p.m. |
6:30 a.m.-6:45 p.m. |
|
Torrance Transit |
1 |
6:20 a.m.-7 p.m. |
NA |
NA |
|
Lawndale Beat |
2 |
7:20 a.m.-6:11 p.m. |
9:00 a.m.-5:40 p.m. |
9:40 a.m.-5:20 p.m. |
Metro will provide the majority of the transit services at the transit center throughout the day. The average number of people riding transit is projected to be similar to those currently using the Transit Center near the South Bay Galleria located at Kingsdale Avenue and Artesia Blvd. Metro’s current weekday averages 1,200 riders that board and alight on lines 40, 210 and 211. It should be noted that current transit ridership trends are reduced due to Coronavirus 2019 pandemic, (COVID-19), and as conditions improve, transit ridership is expected to increase in the future. In addition, C Line average weekday riders at the Redondo Beach Station located at Marine Avenue is 1,100. If the Metro selects the railway as the preferred option for the C Line Metro Rail extension, that is planned to be completed in 2028, the number of rail riders may be similar at the RBTC station.
The RBTC will also have a 320 space public parking lot, a kiss and ride parking lot with 13 parking spaces, and bike lockers and bike racks.
ATTACHMENTS
1. September 22, 2021 Artist Presentation
2. Transit Center Site Map
3. PAC Agenda Item and Minutes of July 28, 2021
4. PAC Agenda Item and Minutes of November 18, 2020
5. PAC Agenda Item and Minutes of September 19, 2018