Council Approves Libbey Bowl
By Mary Long
Ojai City Council members convened on June 22 to unanimously award the construction contract for the rebuilding of Libbey Bowl to McGillivray Construction Inc. Architect David Bury presented an artist’s rendering of the proposed bowl renovation explaining what would be covered by the by the 3,000,000 raised for the core components. He assured the council that “this building is designed to last for the ages,” engineered with steel and concrete and equipped to accommodate a variety of performing arts. The core and central components and Alternatives 1 and 3 are currently funded. This includes the shell, stage right and left, the Green Room, manager’s office, rear deck, paving, access off the front, walks, driveway, handicapped ramp, new sidewalk, site drainage, fencing, underground cables, paving for seating, trash enclosure, new landscaping (with the addition of 12 new trees) and restored wetlands near the historic Libbey sycamore tree. Alternative 2 is the addition of group dressing rooms and additional private dressing rooms for which, according to Ojai Music Festival President Esther Wachtell, almost enough funds have been raised.
City manager Jere Kersnar provided the council members with a financial study of the impact on the city general reserves that funding the Libbey Bowl renovation would create. Kersnar brought graphs of city reserves and presented “cautiously optimistic” and “cautiously pessimistic” scenarios to the council. The possibility of attaining outside financing for the bowl seemed to have been thrown out prior to last night’s meeting with the Music Festival and the City Council collaborating to put funding in place to start the rebuilding immediately. According to Wachtell, the funds raised by the Music Festival come from their founders and they expect a 99 percent funding of the pledges already received. Since McGillivray Construction will need to be paid over the construction year, the city will have to finance the construction costs out of their reserve fund while pledges are collected.
Councilwoman Sue Horgan asked for a 10 percent contingency plan which was established though the use of “value engineering” to create a contingency fund without raising the overall bid for construction.
At the close of the session Peter Strauss took the podium urging the council, Music Festival and the city population at large to see the vision of the benefits of building an international-caliber outdoor theater. Imploring the city to build a “beautiful bowl” which would attract world-class music, theater and dance to the Ojai Valley, Strauss expressed the “build it and they will come” theme, which was heard several times during the evening. Kersnar expressed his opinion that, “I always thought that the argument of the bowl as a business proposition was weak,” but the consensus among the council members was that the bowl is an indelible part of Ojai which has reached a point where it must be rebuilt and to guarantee the pledges it needs to reach completion before the 2011 Festival.” “The opportunities outweigh the risks and I want to go forward,” said Horgan.
With Councilwoman Carol Smith nodding enthusiastically, reminding the council that events at the bowl would bring tourism to Ojai and that the money that comes from T.O.T. (transient occupancy tax) is what the city needs for income, the council came to a unanimous vote to award the building contract.
The vote on the proposed Music Festival lease has been postponed to give council members time to study the provisions of the lease. As it is currently proposed it gives an unprecedented control of a city-owned property to a private entity. The proposed lease of Libbey Bowl to the Music Festival provides a 99-year lease at a rate of $1 per each year of the term. The festival would have 25 days per year lease of the bowl. The June Music Festival would account for a 14-day block with 11 more days reserved annually. The city would also have to refrain from booking any classical music acts into Libbey Bowl during the 30 days prior and after the Musical Festival dates.
Although the review of the proposed lease was postponed, the City Council meeting erupted in cheers, hugs and handshakes at the unanimous vote to award the construction contract.
Yawn. You are the exception to the rule.
I don’t know squat? I know the truth. After all, I am the brains behind the Truth Coalition. The truth is that you’ve been starstruck by seeing a couple of Hollywood C Listers carousing through the streets.
Keeping it up is a lot different than tearing it down and rebuilding a mega bowl. I know what condition the bowl is in, since if you read my past post, you would understand that I was at the fundraiser. I had Ret. Lieut. John Doe bring his camera phone down and upload the pictures to me in cyberspace.
Everyone knows that L.A. transplants have conspired to let the bowl fall into disrepair so that they could have their way with a Hollywoodesque ampitheatre. Get over the bowl. As far as I’m concerned, they ought to rebuild Foster Bowl.
Anon.5 quotes his own post, oh, how witty should we clap? You don’t know squat. Some people that support the rebuild are long time residents that didn’t come from LA, you are obsessed with LA why? My parents were born here their parents came from Wyoming , none of my family came from LA and I support the rebuild. Anon. 5 take the drive up here and really check out the bowl the way it is now. It has served us well and we should honor its service by keeping it up.
Here was my comment posted on the last blog about the bowl:
“I had the great fortune of attending an event last Saturday night at an outdoor facility nestled under trees that has unmatched acoustics. As whiny as Peter Strauss’ voice sounds, at least it came through without reverb and feedback.
Ironically, this event was in celebration of the facility’s demolition.
If the wealthy L.A. transplants want to rebuild it, then let them pay for it. After all, it was through private donations that the park was established in the first place. It’s time for them to step up to the plate or give up on the project.”
Yes, we were hornswaggled by a bunch of crooks. Thanks city council for your starstruck reaction to a Hollywood has been’s pathetic plea.
I agree with you 100%
Dear “Dear Suza”,
You do not have to change your name for me as I was addressing what Suza posted earlier on 24 Jun 10 at 12:57 pm.
I agree with you that it seems better to have updated that bowl. But that time has past which is why I am suggesting we just get on with it and turn the bowl into a cash machine so we can get the other things that are important to us. If the community does not unite on this issue, I am truly concerned we will end up with a white elephant AND no cash too.
Sorry I need to change my name from now on because this is to Resident.. I am actually for repairing the bowl. 100% behind it. I agree with not having 3 story parking and enlarging the footprint. The old bowl is rotting with very outdated bathrooms everything is rotten and falling apart so re make the old one with some improvements but don’t make it bigger. When I was complaining about the ruination of our little town it was in reply to Suza’s comment about why people come to Ojai and our sacred valley and the rest of what she wrote in that whole comment. It had nothing to do with the bowl, but her comment strayed a bit off the bowl as well.
It’s done folks. The bowl promoter’s hornswaggled the city into contributing more money for the bowl that planned, and its over. I don’t like a flim-flam any more that than anyone else, but let’s stop acting like the party of no and get on with it.
I love you Suza, but you and many of us in the city want low cost housing, a community pool, a trolley system, sustainable power, a community owned water company, community gardens, bike paths, better schools, a resource officer, etc. etc. Unfortunately money does not grow on trees and we can not get what we want without money. The difficult issue is how we get it.
We, us citizens, just committed to investing a bunch of cash in the bowl. If we can turn the bowl into a cash machine to get the other things we want in the city, I say do it, and do it quickly with purpose. Yes, it will bring in more traffic and new challenges but it will not be the ruination of our little town. It simply is not that big of a venue. As a person who grew up in the San Fernando Valley and lived the disaster of bulldozing orchards for housing developments, I say filling the bowl has the least effect on the character of our little city. Plus, we might find the events at the bowl something we want to attend and we will not have to drive to other cities to enjoy them. And if there is no parking because of the crowds, we residents will ride bikes down town to do our shopping. Isn’t that the goal anyway?
Please Suza, if you have an idea that will generate the money to get what we want and need, please share it with us, and I mean that sincerely.
P.s. Lets all work to get the bike racks installed and lets hope we need them all.
Just to be clear, there are no plans for a 3 story parking garage. But people are wondering where all the cars are going to park. I was simply saying that the future plans for Libbey Bowl must include alternative transportation. For example, once overnight visitors arrive at their hotel, there has to be a plan where they can conveniently leave their private car parked for the duration of their visit. They will be more motivated to do this if we don’t build more parking lots and give them trolley tokens instead.
Maybe it is time to think about a smaller less complicated plan for Ojai. Yes the bowl needs renovation ,but it does not have to be enlarged, or bigger and better. Keep it simple. Let’s try to reduce the footprint of Ojai. And as to the idea of a 3 story parking garage let’s nix that right now.
May as well note all the vacant commercial real estate available, and where once stood appropriate sized homes, have been replaced by giant monstrosities under the “live/work” category, with no parking available, and for sale/foreclosure signs out front. Guess that wasn’t a good idea. Like the $70K Bulb-outs.
Also Suza, have you ever stood on top of the mtns above Ojai or even looked down from Shelf road and seen the monstrosity that is Bryant street? Welcome to future of Ojai brought to you by the people that approved all this expansive yuck. Instead of thinking we need more affordable housing or unaffordable housing or more business housing or more storage housing, why don’t we just think stop Ojai from growing period? It is a little valley, unless you build a freeway we don’t have the roads to support all this junk. Anybody that wants to OK another huge housing development is NOT a friend of Ojai. They need to pull their heads out , walk along Shelf road and see for themselves how little room we have unless of course they want to change this from “Sacred Valley” to Cement Slab Valley.
Wow, name calling and mudslinging. I would not expect less from such cowards.
Just ignore Anon.5 he lives in LA but likes to pretend he lives in Ojai.
In all our planning for the future of Ojai, we need to remember that we cannot have everything and still remain a unique small town. People come to Ojai first and foremost for the peace and beauty of our sacred valley. They come to get away from traffic, noise, air pollution and the stress of competing for a parking spot. We need to face that the new commercial Libbey Bowl, with plans for mid week and bigger week-end events, could have more traffic impact on our small valley than any housing development or business project we have seen so far. We do not want to widen the narrow road that leads to Ojai. We do not want three-story parking structures. And we do not want to pave more of our paradise to put up more parking lots. There better be a viable car-free alternative transportation plan in place before the 2011 Festival! .
Disrespectful and divisive comments are not helpful. But there are many legitimate concerns that still need to be addressed.
Anon 5 always the angry bee-atch…
What a joke: “Build it and they will come.” Who? A bunch of snobby idiots from L.A.?
I need a personal loan and I shop in Ojai so can I go to the City of Ojai and get a loan because it will facilitate business in Ojai? No is the correct answer. The City of Ojai is not in the banking business. This should all be handled by private individuals and the Music Festival people. The only good news is having trusted names like McGillivary and David Bury involved in the project.
First they fail to get the money, then they want it for 99 years in consideration of their accomplishments. No wonder the school so vehemently opposed projects both on the Nordhoff and Chaparral sites. Now they will own a piece of the City of Ojai
by default. Dangerous. Does Rotary own the Park? Does the Tennis people own some Courts? Does the CPO people own the Lighted Crosswalks? Who should own Cluff Parks, the Cluffs? We know who owns the Skate Park The School. Why then, in consideration like the Music people didn’t the Skate people get a 99 year lease like the Libby people? Mayor Steve you’re right diffrent rules for everyone.
that article is over 17 years old. What is your point Jonny Rotten?
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-04-26/news/mn-27538_1_most-outstanding-fund-raising
“In a letter to center board Chairman James A. Thomas, former Los Angeles Times Publisher Otis Chandler said he and his sister, Camilla Frost, “strenuously object” to Wachtell having any role in the awards created with a $1.5-million family grant in honor of their mother, Music Center founder Dorothy B. Chandler. At the request of the Chandler family members, this year’s awards–which give $25,000 grants to emerging artists–will be postponed because the center is undergoing a change of leadership.”
“It’s been a sad chapter to me in the history of the Music Center to watch this unfold,” Otis Chandler said in an interview. “It is really what her administration has done to the reputation of the Music Center in the minds of many people who were formerly complete supporters.” Chandler is a member of the Board of Directors of Times Mirror Co.
http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/esther-wachtell
And where are they going to put that parking lot?