By Jorge Casuso
April 23 – A quarter century after a branch library in the Pico Neighborhood was proposed, the City Council next week is expected to take a major step in finally making it happen.
The council on Tuesday will explore two options presented by staff – building the library on public land at Virginia Avenue Park or purchasing property to build it on the eastern stretch of Pico Boulevard.
While locating the library on Pico Boulevard would help revitalize the commercial strip that serves the City’s poorest and most ethnically diverse neighborhood, it would cost some $30 million, compared to the estimated $12.8 million it would cost to build it at the park.
“An ‘anchor’ development,” staff wrote in a report to council, “could include opportunities for shared parking, affordable housing and a small post office in addition to a new state-of-the-art library.
“However,” staff cautioned, “the negotiation process could extend over a protracted period of time with no guarantee of success.”
If a proposed 7,000 to 7,500 square foot facility with between 25 and 30 parking spaces is built at Virginia Avenue Park, it would likely go on the current site of the Sunday Farmers’ Market, staff said.
Both the Virginia Avenue Park Advisory Board and the Recreation and Parks Commission have approved locating a library in the Farmers’ Market zone, although the commission worried that the parking would take up open space.
Pico Neighborhood residents have long advocated for a branch library, even though they live less than a mile from the existing Fairview Branch Library at 2101 Ocean Park Boulevard, which opened in 1956.
“Some community members feel Pico Boulevard represents a cultural divide that keeps residents away from that branch,” staff wrote in its report. “Heavy traffic on Pico Boulevard also contributes to a reluctance to cross to the south side and a concern for child safety.”
The need for a branch library in the Pico Neighborhood first came up in the 1983 Pico Neighborhood Community Plan, “which suggested combining existing private sector commercial activities with public uses to include a library and a post office,” staff said.
The idea wasn’t considered when Virginia Avenue Park was being planned from 2001 to 2005. Instead, the City focused on improving its branch libraries and building the new Main Library.
In 2008, the idea finally gathered momentum when a library became part of the proposed demolition and reconstruction of the Edison Language Academy. But “school officials were reluctant to have any portion of the school property open to the public during school hours,” and the idea died.
On September 23, the council directed City staff to investigate the possibility of locating a new branch of the Santa Monica Public Library in the Pico neighborhood and to request input from stakeholders and the relevant Boards and Commissions.
Near the end of last year, the proposed library became an issue in the November race for four open council seats.
Incumbents Ken Genser and Richard Bloom made it a part of their platform, helping them win the most votes in the Pico Neighborhood, the only areas of the City where they won more votes than Council member Bobby Shriver.
On Tuesday, the council is expected to provide staff with direction as to the preferred location and consider sources for funding construction and the annual operating cost, which would be about $870,000.
