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By Lookout Staff

December 20 -- With the Civic Center quickly taking shape and Santa Monica High School embarking on a major overhaul, City and School District officials are exploring ways of working together and sharing opportunities.

The opportunities include everything from sharing recreational and cultural facilities to sharing parking and building a pedestrian bridge that would link the campus to the Civic Center area.

The Civic Center Specific Plan “encourages better connections to Santa Monica High School to strengthen open space linkages and recreational opportunities” and includes an athletic field within the Civic Auditorium Park for use by the high school and other community groups, according to an information item sent by staff to the City Council last week.

The School District Master Facilities Planning process launched a year ago coincides with major projects underway in the area around nearby City Hall -- which has seen the building of a new Public Safety Facility and a Public Parking Structure and is currently planning a “village” that includes affordable housing and upscale condos.

Bankrolled with a $268 million bond approved by voters in November 2006, the District’s plan calls for improvements to “address pedestrian and vehicular circulation, parking and drop off; athletic facility enhancements; and open space, classroom, library and support space needs,” according to City staff.

The plan also recommends that the City and the School District “explore linkages” between Samohi’s cultural facilities, such as Barnum Hall & the Greek Theatre, and the Civic Auditorium, according to staff.

It further recommends “recreational linkages” between the Samohi campus and the Civic Auditorium Park, which is slated to be built behind the County Courthouse, as well as shared parking opportunities.

“Joint-use planning opportunities were broadly identified in the Draft Plan as a goal that should be further pursued on a site by site basis,” staff wrote.

One of the common problems shared by both the City and District is a parking shortage that has led to the creation of a preferential parking zone around the high school.

To alleviate the parking woes, the District’s plan “identifies the potential for shared parking between the two campuses as well as identification of linkages between the expanded Civic
Auditorium and the cultural facilities on the SAMOHI campus,” according to City staff.

The District’s Plan also identifies the potential of a pedestrian bridge across 4th Street linking to a possible drop off zone for Samohi on the Civic Center site.

The recently created site-based BB committee at Samohi -- which includes students, parents, teachers and administrative staff, as well as representatives from the BB District Advisory Committee and a City staff representative -- has been exploring ways to take advantage of joint use opportunities with the City, according to staff.

The plans hammered out by the District, which is slated to begin programming the improvements next month, coincides with the City’s plan to implement the public improvements identified in the City’s Civic Center Specific Plan.

These improvements include the development of three new public open spaces -- Palisades Garden Walk on the northwestern edge of the Civic Center, the Town Square just west of City Hall, and Civic Auditorium Park east of Main Street and the Civic Auditorium and across 4th Street from Samohi.

The Specific Plan also includes a new demonstration early childhood development center and adaptive reuse of the Civic Auditorium.

“The next phase of planning to realize these improvements will involve an extensive
community design process, resulting in concept design plans for the parks and the
Auditorium,” staff wrote.

Funds will also support working with Santa Monica College on the early childhood center design.

“City staff had anticipated beginning this work in January 2008 which is consistent with the timing of the programmatic work being undertaken at Samohi and provides a unique opportunity to do collaborative planning,” staff wrote.