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To: Honorable Chair and
Members of the Public Art Commission
From: Lois Butler
Economic Development Manager
Date: December 10, 2018
RE: Status Update on Location for Bronze Squid. Staff to provide the Public Art Commission with a status update on the location for the Bronze Squid artwork. The proposed public art installation is Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines Section 15303, New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures.
BACKGROUND
Alameda Municipal Code Section 30-98 Public Art in New Commercial, Industrial, Residential and Municipal Construction (Ordinance) requires that major development projects include on-site public art. The Ordinance also permits an applicant to pay a fee in lieu of providing the art on site. Any in-lieu fees collected are deposited in the dedicated Fund. The Fund can then only be used by the City to provide or support public art.
In September 2017, the City of Alameda released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for $262,500 in physical public art in Alameda.
On February 27 and March 27, 2018, a Selection Panel met to review and rank qualified proposals, utilizing the evaluation criteria established in the RFP. In June 2018, the PAC recommended that the top-ranked proposals in each category move forward to City Council for approval. This included four awards:
• $150,000 category: Rockspinners, Zachary Coffin
• $50,000 category: Gateway Columns, Norman Moore
• $25,000 category: Love Our Island Art Walk, Rhythmix Cultural Works
• $12,500 category: Astro Mural, Dan Fontes
The City Council approved the PAC’s recommendations in September 2018, and the awarded artists are currently in the contracting process.
At the June 2018 meeting, the PAC also expressed a desire to fund more of the artwork recommended by the Selection Panel. In response to this request, and in an effort to increase the presence of public art in Alameda, City staff identified an alternate funding source for the other two recommended finalists at the $150,000 level: Dmitrii Volkov’s Dragon Dance, and Rossella Scapini and Luke Heimbigner’s Bronze Squid.
Staff recommended that these pieces be funded out of the Tidelands Fund, which is dedicated to the improvement and restoration of the City’s tidelands. These artworks are eligible for this funding because they will be located in Tideland properties along Alameda’s shoreline. On August 16, 2018, the PAC reviewed this proposal and recommended to City Council that the additional artwork be funded and installed within the City of Alameda Tidelands. In September 2018, City Council approved this recommendation.
DISCUSSION
The Bronze Squid was originally proposed for the Alameda Point Shoreline, west of the Hornet Soccer field, facing the water, oriented towards the Bay Trail. However, at the August meeting the PAC requested that staff explore alternative locations within the Tidelands, as it viewed this location as too remote.
Since the August meeting, staff has evaluated other locations at Alameda Point, using the following criteria:
• Tidelands location: Site must be on Tidelands property in order to qualify for the proposed funding.
• Site Utilization: Location must have more activity or potential activity than the current proposed site.
• Opportunity for long-term installation: The site must allow for the long-term (30+ years) installation of artwork.
An initial review of the planning documents revealed that most Tidelands areas at Alameda Point are planned for open space, with the majority in locations even more remote than the current proposed location. The Tidelands areas expected to be most highly utilized are in the Waterfront Town Center and Enterprise sub-areas (Exhibit 1). Much of the Waterfront Town Center sub-area is currently under construction as part of the Site A development. The current proposed site is within the Enterprise sub-area.
Staff considered land adjacent to the new Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal as a potential site, as the new terminal is expected to have strong utilization similar to that of the Main Street Ferry Terminal. It is expected to break ground in July of 2019, with operation commencing in spring of 2020. However, all current land-side improvements are temporary, and will be re-configured when the Enterprise District (which includes Site B, the next large development opportunity at Alameda Point) comes online. As a result, any artwork installed in the next one to two years may require re-location when construction for the Enterprise District commences. As the City cannot guarantee that funding for re-location of the artwork will be available at that time, staff determined that this site is not feasible.
As part of the evaluation process, staff also inventoried current and future activities within one half-mile of the current proposed site. These activities and development opportunities are described below, and illustrated in Exhibit 2.
• Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) Operations and Maintenance Facility: The recently completed, $50 million emergency operations and maintenance center will serve as the primary location for WETA to coordinate emergency transportation services in the event of a regional disaster. It will also serve as a consolidated base for the maintenance of all ferries serving the SF Bay Area. It is home to 100 full-time employees.
• San Francisco Bay Trail: The SF Bay Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail that will eventually allow continuous travel along the 500-mile San Francisco Bay shoreline. When development of Alameda Point is complete, this portion of the trail will feature a Class 1 separated bicycle and pedestrian path.
• The Enterprise District: The Enterprise District includes Site B, an 82-acre, fully entitled opportunity site at Alameda Point currently being marketing to developers. The site is proposed for commercial projects, such as a large corporate “build-to-suit” campus.
• Hornet Field: Operated by the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department (ARPD), Hornet Field is heavily utilized year-round as a soccer field by youth and adult leagues.
• Encinal Boat Ramp: Also operated by ARPD, the Encinal Boat Ramp is home to the Alameda Community Sailing Center, O’Kalani Outrigger Canoe Club, and Stacked Adventures. ARPD also estimates that the site receives over 2,700 small boat visitors per year. In 2018, ARPD successfully applied for and received a grant to complete $1.4 million in capital improvements for the Ramp, which will increase its capacity significantly.
• USS Hornet: The USS Hornet is one of a small number of aircraft carrier museums in the world, and brings an estimated 100,000 visitors to Alameda each year, ranging from school-aged children on field trips to World War II veterans from around the globe.
• Encinal High School: Encinal High School is a public high school serving grades 6-12, with more than 1,300 students.
• Seal Float: A favorite of environmentalists and seal watchers, the seal float is regularly home to up to 70 Harbor seals seeking to rest and get warm after spending time in the cold Bay water.
While it is possible that future development may require the re-location of the Bronze Squid, at this time, there is no planned development for the current proposed site.
After reviewing current and future activities at the current proposed site, and eliminating other possibilities, Staff has determined that the current proposed location west of the Hornet Soccer Field (Exhibit 2) is the optimal site for the Bronze Squid.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The proposed public art installation is Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines Section 15303, New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures.
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the status update regarding the location of the Bronze Squid.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lois Butler
Economic Development Manager
By,
Amanda Gehrke
Management Analyst
Exhibits:
1. Alameda Point Map
2. Proposed Location of Bronze Squid