By Jonathan Friedman
September 29, 2009 -- The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium -- which in its heyday hosted such acts as Frank Sinatra and the Rolling stones -- could be on the path toward regaining its status as a major player on the local entertainment scene, with some help from the private sector.
The City Council last week voted 6 to 0 to direct City staff to negotiate with the Nederlander Organization for a public/private partnership to operate the 51-year-old theater. Council member Bobby Shriver did not vote due to a personal relationship he has with the Nederlander family.
Nederlander operates several theaters throughout the country and in England, including nine Broadway locations and local venues such as the Grove of Anaheim and the Greek and Pantages Theatres.
Most of the company’s operations are run through partnerships, including those with municipalities. Most recently, Nederlander teamed with the City of San Jose to revitalize its civic auditorium, which is similar in size to the 3,000-seat complex in Santa Monica.
“I am really excited that we have an organization of this quality that is interested in working with us on this,” said Mayor Ken Genser. “And from everything I’ve read, they’re really quite good at developing partnerships with other organizations and other municipalities.”
Nederlander is expected to help the City attract big names for concerts and theater performances as well as assist with renting out the space for conventions and social events.
Along with the $25 million of Redevelopment Agency funding the City designated for upgrading the building in June, the hope is for Nederlander to revitalize a facility that hosted the Academy Awards for most of the 1960s and housed concerts for acts such as Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, the Doors and the Rolling Stones.
“Once the venue would be retooled and renovated with the appropriate renovations both inside and outside, the Civic will provide, quite frankly, the citizens of Santa Monica with a better alternative to other Los Angeles venues, bringing in top-flight entertainment, but a lot closer to home,” said Adam Friedman, chief executive officer of Nederlander Concerts.
Friedman said the facility would also continue to provide its community programs such as the Santa Monica Symphony concerts (which he said could become a revenue generator with the addition of top-name acts performing with the symphony) and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s Stairway of the Stars concert. He said internships could be offered to students interested in working in the performance arts.
All the council members supported the concept, although they expressed a few concerns and gave some ideas they wished City staff to address in negotiations, such as how staffing would work.
Also, Council member Gleam Davis said she hoped the auditorium could be included with Barnum Hall at Santa Monica High School and the new Broad Stage at Santa Monica College for community-wide events.
Council member Kevin McKeown wanted guarantees of some “affordable seating” and that the auditorium will be assured it gets headline events and not be “the third venue for the things that don’t go the Greek theater or the Panteges Theater.”
According to City staff’s five-year forecast for the auditorium, $1.1 million to $1.3 million must be taken out of the City’s General Fund to subsidize the facility.
Council member Richard Bloom said this partnership and an upgraded facility should make the subsidy unnecessary.
“There are a variety of interests at hand here,” Bloom said. “And our staff is known for driving a hard bargain. And we expect you [staff], with all due respect to the Nederlander organization, … to take this seriously and achieve as many of our community goals as possible through these negotiations.”
