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By Lookout Staff

February 26 -- The City will have to pay an additional $220,677 to remove asbestos and lead containing materials found during a $30 million project to turn what’s left of the former Marion Davies estate at 415 Pacific Coast Highway into a public beach club.

Expected to be approved by the City Council Tuesday, the appropriation brings the contract with Midwest Environmental Control, Inc., (MEC) to a value of $1,216,830, according to City officials.

The amount includes a 10 percent contingency and a one-time $7,822 addition for off-site hazardous abatement services at City Hall.

“Recent rehabilitation activities have revealed additional hazardous materials that require abatement by MEC,” staff wrote in a report to the council. “A modification to the current contract is necessary.”

Funds for the amendment to the construction contract are available from the project budget, staff said.

MEC was contracted to perform abatement of asbestos and lead containing materials and selective demolition of the former Locker Building, historic North House and bulkhead and abatement of hazardous materials discovered during site excavation, according to staff.

The need for additional abatement was found during the recent rehab of the facilities, which include installing mechanical, electrical and plumbing pathways at the historic pool, Parking Lot 10 and the North House, staff said.

The work is part of the Annenberg Community Beach House project, which calls for combining the remaining elements of the historic Marion Davies Estate with new facilities that include a pool house, event house, gardens, a children’s water play feature and a public art element.

Largely bankrolled with a $30 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation, the beach club is expected to open to the public in early 2009. The facility will include space for meetings and events, as well as opportunities for traditional beach recreation such as swimming, volleyball and beach tennis.

Developed in the 1920s by William Randolph Hearst for actress Marion Davies, the original estate became a gathering place for the rich and famous, who built lavish homes across the stretch of beach near Santa Monica’s northern border.

After Davies sold the estate, the mansion was briefly operated as a luxury oceanfront hotel and then demolished in the 1950s. The property was purchased by the State of California and leased to the private Sand & Sea Club for decades.

The site was briefly operated by the City as a seasonal public beach facility until the 1994 Northridge Earthquake damaged all the structures on site.

Staff cautioned that additional abatement work at the site would require more funds.

“It is anticipated that staff will need to return to Council at a later date to replenish all or a portion of these construction funds in order to complete the project,” staff wrote.

“If necessary, an alternative source of funds for the additional work will be identified at that time.”