Galleries’ survival threatened by railway expansion plans
Uncertainty surrounds future of Santa Monica
By Carren Jao. News, Issue 235, May 2012
Published online: 27 April 2012
The expansion of the new Exposition Light Rail (Expo)
connecting downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica means major changes to the
Bergamot Station Arts Center, a 7.4-acre complex that houses 35 galleries in
several metal-clad industrial buildings. An 18-year-old art space is being
threatened with destruction and gallery owners worry they could be pushed out
by rising rents when the new railway stop opens in 2015.
Track 16, a 12,000 sq. ft art space, is due to be torn down
to make way for a platform as early as August. “We’re being put out of business
basically,” says the owner Tom Patchett, who co-funded the development of the
Bergamot Station complex in 1994. He feels that the city has done little to
ensure the gallery’s continued operation. “We’re being kicked out because they
need this property, but we’re not being relocated within a similar community.
If we go elsewhere, we can’t do what we’re doing now.”
The additional rail stop is projected to bring in about 3,500
people to Bergamot Station every day. The Santa
Monica
The plan has been met either with cautious optimism or
outright opposition from gallery owners, who have taken part in seven community
meetings over the past year. “This plan is only a suggestion. We have no idea
what we’re going to be getting,” says Carol Kleinman, the co-owner of TAG
Gallery, who worries that galleries will be replaced by higher-paying
commercial tenants.
“With all the money going to capital improvements, it’s
hard to believe there won’t be an increase in rent. But how much? [The city]
hasn’t mentioned anything at all,” says the gallery owner Susan Schomburg. Santa Monica
The city planner Peter James stresses that the concept is
flexible. “It’s not a final plan at all,” he says, and adds that the city hopes
that someone who understands the arts scene “will look at this as a starting
point and make it even better”. Changes are likely to occur after 2016.
Craig Krull, a gallery owner, is among the more supportive
voices. “As of now, things are looking pretty good,” he says. “The current plan
is a lot less intensely developed than some of the previous suggestions. Plus,
the community has been very supportive. They’ve said they wanted to keep
Bergamot Station true to what it is now.”
In the meantime, gallery owners have to contend with
disruptions caused by the construction of the railway platform. Most buildings
are made of metal and have no air-conditioning, so it will be a challenge to
keep the noise and air-borne debris at bay. Expo has given no formal notice of
when construction will start.
In a statement to The Art Newspaper, Glenda Silva, an Expo
spokeswoman, says that “all tenants should be able to function normally without
any direct impact from construction”, with various measures in place to ensure
smooth operations. In addition, the city has brought in their economic
development team and small business experts to advise the galleries.
Most galleries are adopting a wait-and-see approach, wary
of the city’s open-ended plans. “We know this isn’t our property, we leased
it,” says Kleinman. “At the same time, we really would like to see Bergamot
Station as the cultural icon it is. It would be awful for that to go away.”
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