Title:
Title
Crocker Art Museum Programmatic Update and Discussion of the Crocker Park Redevelopment and Expansion Project (“Crocker Park Project”)
End
FileID
File ID: 2019-01248
Location
Location: Council District 4, with Crocker Park bounded by 2nd, 3rd, O and N Streets.
Recommendation:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that City Council provide direction to the City Manager to explore public financing options for the Crocker Park Project.Receive and file.
Contact: Lial Jones, Mort and Marcy Friedman Director and CEO, Crocker Art Museum, (916) 808-1054
Richard Rich, Crocker Park Project Manager, City Manager’s Office of Innovation and Economic Development, (916) 808-2519, City Manager’s Office of Innovation and Economic Development
Body
Presenter: Lial Jones, Mort and Marcy Friedman Director and CEO, (916) 808-1054, Crocker Art Museum, (916) 808-1054;
Richard Rich, Crocker Park Project Manager, (916) 808-2519, City Manager’s Office of Innovation and Economic Development, (916) 808-2519
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: Project Background
Established as a public-private partnership in 1885 by a deed of gift in trust from Margaret Crocker to the City of Sacramento (City), the Crocker Art Museum (“Crocker” or “Museum”) is the longest continuously operating art museum west of the Mississippi and an anchor institution for the Sacramento region. The opening of the Gwathmey Siegel-designed Teel Family Pavilion in 2010 tripled the Crocker’s size, elevating Sacramento’s cultural scene and expanding the Museum’s audience. The demand on the Crocker for community engagement, diverse and relevant exhibitions and programs, and event space continues to grow.
Last year, the Crocker welcomed 275,000 visitors from across the state, nation, and the world and hosted more than 600 public programs. The Crocker ranks 10th among all art museums in North America for ticketed public program attendance. When benchmarked against major art museums in aspirational creative cities identified in Sacramento’s Creative Edge Plan, specifically Portland, Indianapolis, Denver, and Columbus, the Crocker serves more people at its public programs (Source: 2018 AAMD Survey).
Project Background
Established as a public-private partnership in 1885 by a deed of gift in trust from Margaret Crocker to the City of Sacramento, the Crocker Art Museum (“Crocker” or “Museum”) is the longest continuously operating art museum west of the Mississippi and an anchor institution for the Sacramento region. The opening of the Gwathmey Siegel-designed Teel Family Pavilion in 2010 tripled the Crocker’s size, elevating Sacramento’s cultural scene and expanding the Museum’s audience. The demand on the Crocker for community engagement, diverse and relevant exhibitions and programs, and event space continues to grow.
Last year, the Crocker welcomed 275,000 visitors from across the state, nation, and the world and hosted more than 600 public programs. The Crocker ranks 10th among all art museums in North America for ticketed public program attendance. When benchmarked against major art museums in aspirational creative cities identified in Sacramento’s Creative Edge Plan, specifically Portland, Indianapolis, Denver, and Columbus, the Crocker serves more people at its public programs (Source: 2018 AAMD Survey).
While the Crocker has experienced great success, it does face some significant challenges. Lack of parking is the Crocker’s number one visitor complaint, and it is the primary reason people cite for not visiting the Museum at all, especially during special events and peak visitor hours. The historic parking shortage in the Museum neighborhood has been intensified by the Museum’s continued growth, Sacramento’s downtown growth, and plans for enhanced civic amenities along the Sacramento Waterfront. One of the priorities of the Crocker Park Project (Project) is to solve this parking challenge through the construction of a new City parking structure fronting Crocker Park between the Crocker Art Museum and Lot X. The proposed City parking garage will provide up to 300 spaces for Museum use, and the City will determine the need for additional parking spaces to accommodate other community uses.
The construction of a City parking garage is part of the planned transformation of the unimproved parcel commonly known as Crocker Park, located across the street from the museum building. This City-owned property presents the opportunity to expand the Museum and enhance urban green space.
The first civic space of its kind in Sacramento’s core, the new Crocker Park will be transformed into an art-focused green amenity that connects the Museum with other regional assets, such as the nearby Sacramento Waterfront. The joint City and Crocker Art Museum Association’s (CAMA) vision for the park would transform the site into a community space that could be activated at all hours, any day of the week. It is anticipated that hundreds of Museum programs, concerts, classes, and community events that are currently hidden behind the Crocker’s walls can move into the Park, allowing the Museum to serve more people. Future Museum visitors can extend their Crocker experience, or Crocker Park can simply be a compelling destination unto itself. The new City parking structure will make the Museum, Crocker Park, and other nearby Waterfront amenities more accessible for visitors.
Proposed New Crocker Park Site Plan
In 2015, to ensure that Sacramentans helped shape the vision for the Crocker Park project, landscape architecture firm !melk and Crocker staff conducted more than 25 meetings and community engagement workshops. These meetings and workshops informed initial materials and concepts that will inform the conceptual designs for Crocker Park. The site plan as currently defined has three major components:
1. Changes to City streets, specifically the relocation of the portion of 2nd Street between N and O Streets and narrowing N and O Streets between 2nd and 3rd Streets.
2. Construction of a multi-story parking structure just east of the relocated 2nd Street. The Museum has identified a need for up to 300 spaces, and the City has identified a potential need for additional spaces above and beyond that number.
3. Development of an art-focused park and creation of a new gallery space on the remaining area of the Site. The Museum envisions hosting community and educational programs throughout Crocker Park.
Public accessibility and connectivity with other City amenities are key design considerations for the new Crocker Park. Crocker Park will be free and open to the public. The goal is to create not just a new neighborhood park, but a new civic amenity that is welcoming to every Sacramento visitor and resident.
Project Work Completed To-Date
To-date, CAMA has funded approximately $2,000,000.0 million in pre-development work.
In January 2018, the Crocker Art Museum acquired Lot Y from the Sacramento Kings ownership group, Sacramento Basketball Holdings (SBH). Lot Y is located immediately to the west of Crocker Park. The relocation of 2nd Street along the I-5 right-of-way will create a building site for the new City parking structure that minimizes any loss of park space.
In March 2018, the City of Sacramento assigned a project manager for Crocker Park, and includes Crocker Park as part of larger efforts on the City’s Waterfront, which extends from the Crocker to the new Powerhouse Science Center. CAMA also retained the services of its own project manager.
In July 2018, Olson Kundig and Surfacedesign, Inc. were unanimously selected as the project architects for Crocker Park. The Crocker formed an Architect Selection Committee of approximately 30 diverse stakeholders, including Museum Board members, Museum staff, Museum donors, elected officials, City staff, design professionals, and community leaders.
The architectural contract between CAMA and Olson Kundig was completed in January 2019, and the architects met with City Council Members in February 2019. The conceptual design phase is now underway. Parking and traffic studies commissioned by the City and funded by CAMA were completed in April and May 2019. CAMA has also funded and commissioned an arborist study, and the arborists will finalize their draft analysis upon completion of the conceptual design phase.
Draft Project Schedule
During project pre-design and design phases, CAMA is functioning as the project owner and primary contact for the design team. The pProject is expected to be completed in 2023. A target project timeline, pending agreements with the City, is below:
A. Initial Stakeholder Engagement and Project Understanding: November 2018-January 2019
B. Pre-Design: Mass Conceptual Planning and Master Planning: February - July 2019
C. Overall Programming: July-September 2019
D. Conceptual Design: August-September 2019
E. Schematic Design: September - December 2019
F. Design Development: January - March 2020
G. Construction Documents & Permits: May-November 2020
H. Groundbreaking: October 10, 2020
Policy Considerations: The Crocker Art Museum is jointly operated by the City of Sacramento and the Crocker Art Museum Association (CAMA) as Co-Trustees. For more than 130 years, the Museum has recognized the power of combining private philanthropy with public resources.
As a project partner, the City of Sacramento has been heavily involved in developing project priorities. The process to-date, which included public input on the early concepting phase and a public architect selection process, is consistent with the City’s policy to ensure the opportunity for public involvement in formulating the direction for regional amenities.
Economic Impacts: The When fully realized, the Crocker Park pProject will transform the three acres across from the Museum, cleared as part of Sacramento’s 1960s urban renewal efforts, into a free art-focused park that will serve Sacramento residents and visitors and draw more people to Sacramento’s waterfront area.
Last year 85,000 Crocker visitors came from outside a three-hour driving radius. Of those, 25,000 were visiting from outside the state or country. These visitors stay in Sacramento hotels, eat in Sacramento restaurants, and shop in Sacramento stores. Studies of tourist spending habits show that “cultural tourists” - those that visit museums - spend on average three times more than those who travel for other purposes. The completed Crocker Park Project is designed to bring more of these visitors to the City.
Environmental Considerations: This report concerns administrative activities that will not have a potentially significant effect on the environment, and do not constitute a “project” as defined by Sections 15061(b)(3) and 15378(b)(4) of the CEQA Guidelines (Title 14 Cal. Code Reg. §15000 et seq.). organizational or administrative activities that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment, as contemplated by Section 15378(b)(5) of the CEQA Guidelines (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, §15000 et seq.), and is, therefore, not subject to CEQA pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines.
Sustainability: Not applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: Not applicable.
Rationale for Recommendation: In January 2017, CAMA began a capital campaign (Crocker Next), with the redevelopment of the Crocker Park site as one of the stated priorities. All project expenses incurred to-date, including early community engagement work, the hiring of architects, and traffic and parking studies, have been funded through the contributions of private individuals who have stepped forward with gifts for a public project.
A Memorandum of Understanding defining the partnership between CAMA and the City of Sacramento, including financial commitments, would sustain early private fundraising momentum and keep the design and pre-construction work moving. Staff is requesting direction to more fully explore these financing options.
Financial Considerations: Given the sizeable capital investment required, City staff have beeare n exploring several possible methods of City financial participation. Examples include direct investment in public infrastructure, site preparation, issuance of bonds, or lease/leaseback options among others. CAMA funded a City-commissioned parking study, which indicates possible City capacity to finance the new parking structure, given growth potential within the downtown Sacramento parking market. This growth potential is tied to increased downtown parking demand and the opportunity to drive additional revenue to the Parking Services Division (PSD) separate from the Crocker Park project. Any funding recommendations for the Project will return to Council once confirmed.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.