A unique design for the proposed $11-million Firehouse Arts Center that will blend historic and modern glass and steel architecture unlike any other building in downtown Pleasanton has been approved by the City Council.
The action, which was not without its critics, was the final step in allowing ELS Architecture and Urban Design to move forward on construction plans for the Railroad Avenue theater and art center, which planners hope to have ready in November for public bids from contractors. Only then will the actual cost of the project be known.
“Seeing this design plan for the first time, I think there’s too much monolithic glass,” complained Charles Clark. “It looks like something you would find in Hacienda Business Park, not downtown.”
But others, including representatives of the Pleasanton Downtown Association, Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce, Cultural Arts Committee and John Loll, who would use the facility for a children’s theater company that he wants to establish here, praised both the design and the project.
“This project will bring people to dine, shop and hang out in our downtown, and that’s what we all want,” said Judy Wheeler Ditter, president of the PDA and owner of Towne Center Books on Main Street. “We don’t want to do anything that would delay this project or increase its costs.”
The downtown art center has been a dream of the Pleasanton arts community for more than a decade, starting with a commitment by the Downtown Parks and Trails Committee in the 1990s to convert the historic fire station into public uses if the facility was vacated. It also became part of the Downtown Specific Plan. Efforts to make use of the building intensified after the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department moved its headquarters to a new facility on Bernal Avenue at Nevada Street and Fire Station No. 4 moved into a new station on Bernal last year across from the Fairgrounds.
Unlike building an arts center or theater from the ground up, ELS said the renovation of the historic firehouse could be more costly. In its final design, the Berkeley architectural firm calls for renovating the 2,450-square-foot original firehouse, demolishing the rest of the building that was constructed in the 1960s and then adding a 20,263-square-foot addition for theater, gallery display, classrooms and support functions.
Most striking, or controversial depending on which side of the architectural fence you’re on, are the lobby and art display center that consist of curved walls and all-glass exteriors. To be located at the end of Division Street, the lobby and art displays can be seen from Main Street on the west and Lions Wayside Park on the east with uninterrupted views of Main and First streets through the glass enclosure.
ELS architects Kurt Schindler and Ed Noland said the rest of the building will include wood and a roughened texture of plaster that would be hand-molded to the design and color of the original firehouse brick. Because the brick was manufactured locally by a firm no longer in business, the architects said it would be difficult and very expensive to try to duplicate the old brick for use on the addition.
They said the glazed lobby would align with the east end of Division Street and become the focal point for pedestrians and patrons as they walk toward the center. The Lions Wayside Park side of the new arts center is designed with a curvilinear wall that will be clad with tongue and groove vertical cedar siding that will be designed to tie the different architecture together as viewed from the landscaped park. The wood is expected to enhance the historic brick colors of the old firehouse.
The Firehouse Arts Center will provide the city with a:
* 240-seat theater with flexible seating, to be used for youth theater productions, chamber music, small dramatic productions, musical concerts, lectures, literary events, community meetings and film and video presentations.
* Art Gallery designed to display all forms of fine art. The gallery would be operated to support local arts organizations and its members and would also be designed to achieve a reasonable level of museum and gallery accreditation.
* Classrooms for multiple applications, including dedicated arts workshops, fine arts and crafts classes, rehearsals, meetings and lectures.
* Box office to support events at the center and possible to serve as a central downtown box office for community organizations and events, much as the old Lions ticket office did on Neal Street.
* Public restroom facilities, designed to serve those visiting the art center and gallery and also open to the public during the regular hours of the center.
Although a majority of council members voted to accept ELS’s final design proposal, Councilman Matt Sullivan said no, siding with those who felt the modern glass and steel lobby and art gallery were too different a design for Pleasanton’s historic downtown.
“I’d like to see something that’s more of a classic design or that better meets the downtown design guidelines,” Sullivan said.
Although he praised the project as a “significant asset” to the community and the downtown, he suggested taking more time before approving the final plan to make sure it followed the same careful review process that the city requires of other projects.
Councilwoman Cindy McGovern agreed. She urged that the project be subjected to the same review process by having the city’s architectural review consultant Larry Cannon consider the design plans.
Local architect Charles Huff said that the design process for the project failed to go through the same rigorous reviews that he and other architects and developers must do before gaining city planning department approvals.
“I would like to see this design scaled down a little bit in terms of how it relates to Railroad Avenue and the business district in front of it,” Huff said. “I would also like to see more use of brick and some semblance of architectural design that looks like the original firehouse, some orientation to bring the two buildings together.”
“I think we should step back a little and take this back to the city staff and have it go through the same review process that other projects have to follow,” he added.
But others said they were pleased with the proposed design and don’t want to see the project delayed.
“This design is absolutely gorgeous,” said Mayor Jennifer Hosterman. “Sure, the building design doesn’t look like any other building on Main Street, nor should it. It’s a very different kind of building with a different kind of function. It will complement our downtown and go a long way in expanding our downtown core and providing retail interests between Railroad Avenue and Main Street.”
Councilman Steve Brozosky added that with construction costs continually escalating, the city should move forward with the design it has to firm up construction bids as quickly as possible.
“This project showcases the original firehouse as it was intended to do,” Brozosky said. “When you walk down Main Street, you will be able to see this and want to go down Division Street and see what it is. It is planned as an arts center and theater and will be an economic engine to our downtown. I’m excited about it.”
Greg Reznick, president of the Cultural Arts Foundation, said his group has pledged to raise $2-million toward the estimated $10.8-million that the Firehouse Arts Center and theater is projected to cost. The city government has already agreed to pay the other $8.8 million.
Besides the cost of building the structure, annual operating expenses are project at $300,000. Not included in the costs of the project are renovations to Lions Wayside Park to provide access across the creek to the arts center and its restrooms, an acquisition of the Alameda County-owned transportation corridor, which will be needed to provide parking for the arts center.
For more information on the project and the Cultural Arts Foundation’s fundraising efforts contact Greg Reznick by e-mail at info@pleasantonartsfoundation.org or visit the organization’s Web site at www.pleasantonartsfoundation.org.
