Title
PLN24-0145 - 2151 Ferry Point - Applicant: Little Opera House, LLC. - Public Workshop on Radium Theatre Performing Arts Center Development Plan. Public workshop to discuss the proposed Radium Theatre Performing Arts Center. The project location is comprised of Blocks 12 & 13 in the Site A Development Plan, an approximately 2.13-acre site on the west side of Pan Am Way near the intersection of West Atlantic Avenue. CEQA Determination: The draft Development Plan is subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act. No final action on the environmental review or the Development Plan will take place at this meeting.
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To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Historical Advisory Board
From: Steven Buckley, Historical Advisory Board Secretary
BACKGROUND
After soliciting proposals for a performing arts center, on December 19, 2023, City Council approved an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA) and license (lease) with Little Opera House, Inc. for the approximately 2.13-acre site made up by Blocks 12 and 13. The ENA specifies opportunities for the public and others to inform the negotiations, including meetings with the Historical Advisory Board and Planning Board where a proposed Development Plan and architectural concepts can be presented and discussed.
The Historical Advisory Board held a public workshop on the draft development plan on June 6, 2024. The June staff report is available at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6709900&GUID=B0C90C93-19C5-497A-871C-667AF31AA180&Options=&Search=&FullText=1>. The Planning Board also held a public workshop on the same draft plans on June 10, 2024. Both the Planning Board and the Historical Advisory Board appointed subcommittees to assist staff and the applicant team further develop the proposal. The joint subcommittee has met three times since the June board workshop. Staff and the applicant team now wish to share progress and provide an update to the entire Board. The revised draft development plan is attached as Exhibit 1.
DISCUSSION
Based on feedback received at the public workshops, the theater building has been shifted to the west. The current theater location creates a larger public plaza framed by the theater and Naval Air Museum (Building 77) while preserving the view corridor along the centerline of Building 77. Additional work has been done since June to refine the site grading, stormwater, utility and roadway details that address area circulation, truck access, parking, and solid waste collection.
The revised plans have further developed the landscape plan for the large plaza between the museum and the waterfront park. The applicant also proposes making modifications to the waterfront park north of the Bay Trail to fully integrate the project into the landscape.
To provide adequate access to the site from West Tower Avenue, the development plan now anticipates a new north-south roadway between Building 40 (Bladium) and Building 41. This new street will be considered as part of a future amendment to the Master Infrastructure Plan. Staff anticipate a phased approach to off-site infrastructure as development occurs. The plans also show a public 169 space parking lot on the taxiway west of the theater. Planning and Base Reuse staff will be engaging with a consultant to update the existing parking needs analysis and management strategies for the entire base, which may inform the strategy for long-term parking for the theater and other local users.
Since June, staff have conducted a thorough review of the previous studies of the historic district. The research gives a clearer understanding of the significance of Building 77. The Town Center and Waterfront Precise Plan gives the impression that Building 77 served as the passenger terminal for the original Pan Am seaplanes such as the China Clipper that operated out of Alameda. In fact, the China Clipper and Pan Am operated out of the Alameda Municipal Airport from 1936 to 1938, before moving to Treasure Island when filling of the bay and construction of NAS Alameda began. Building 77 did not serve as an air terminal in that period but was constructed in 1942 and served primarily as a radio and radar repair shop during World War II, the period of significance for the historic district. Around 1960, Building 77 began serving as a passenger terminal for the air station. This information perhaps clarifies why the views to and from Building 77, though worthy of consideration in project planning, are not considered character-defining features of the historic district.
The primary finding the HAB must make to approve a Certificate of Approval for the project is consistency with the Secretary of Interior' s Standards for Rehabilitation of Historic Properties. City staff have engaged the consulting firm Architectural Resources Group to provide expert, third-party analysis of the project’s compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The evaluation will address any potential impacts of the historic district that the project may have and provide design recommendations for increased Standards compliance, if appropriate. This workshop provides the Board with an early opportunity to consider the project as currently defined and offer preliminary comments.
PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENTS
This workshop is not a public hearing, in that no decisions are being made, and there are no statutory requirements for public notice. However, the agenda item was posted on the City’s website and staff e-mailed a courtesy notice to the City’s most current list of Alameda Point tenants. Future public hearings on the project will include required mailings to property owners, newspaper ads and site postings.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The draft Radium Theatre Development Plan is subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act. No final action on the environmental review or the Development Plan will take place at this meeting. It is anticipated that the project will be reviewed under the certified Final EIR for the Alameda Point Project, which includes certain mitigation measures that have been incorporated into the zoning ordinance.
CLIMATE IMPACT
This workshop to discuss the proposed Radium Theatre Performing Arts Center will not have a direct effect on climate change.
RECOMMENDATION
Hold a public workshop to discuss the proposed Radium Theatre Performing Arts Center project and provide feedback on the considerations the Board will need to evaluate to determine consistency with the character defining features of the NAS Alameda Historic District.
Respectfully Submitted,
Steven Buckley, Secretary to the Historical Advisory Board
By,
Brian McGuire, Planner II
Exhibits:
1. Draft Development Plan