Civic Auditorium Celebrates 75 Years

Leadership Team Announces City’s Support Of Phase Two Renovation Planning

SANTA CRUZ — Over its 75-year history, the Civic has been home to thousands of events from high school graduation ceremonies to the Miss California Pageant, from raves to symphony performances. On Thursday, March 28, the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium will celebrate its rich history with a community birthday party, including performances by Dancenter, Kuumbwa Jazz Honor Band, Motion Pacific, Santa Cruz Derby Girls, Santa Cruz Follies, and others. For more information visit their website.

After a nostalgic presentation reviewing the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium’s rich 75 year history and a presentation of conceptual designs for a renovated Civic, the Santa Cruz City Council approved $50,000 in funding to support a structural study and additional planning aimed at an eventual renovation of the historic building.

The presentation at the February 24 Santa Cruz City Council meeting, was made by the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium Leadership Team which over the past two and a half years, has gathered input from current and potential users of the Civic, studied Civic operations, completed a structural study of the facility, and engaged ELS Architecture and Urban Design to develop conceptual models for a potential Civic renovation.

“Before looking too deeply at financing this significant investment, we need to determine the seismic fitness of the Civic to accommodate the proposed renovation,” said project manager Jim Brown. “This is why City Council support for this study was so critical,” he continued.

“The Civic is a very well built building and a great City landmark,” said Dale Hendsbee of local structural engineering firm Mesiti-Miller Engineering. “However … we want to verify the foundation is adequate to minimize the risk to life safety from a large earthquake,” Hendsbee added. This study is a pre-cursor to future work by the Civic Leadership Team.

The conceptual models proposed would dramatically transform the interior of the Civic Auditorium while leaving the historic façade of the building relatively unchanged. To improve audience comfort and safety, the existing steeply raked auditorium seating would be removed and replaced with new seats, almost all facing forward to the stage. The first floor lobby would be expanded, and a second floor lobby would be added, making upper level seating handicap accessible. Additional space for concessions and expanded restrooms will also be added. Current plans also include making the existing exterior balcony, overlooking Santa Cruz City Hall, accessible to audiences.

The focus of the renovation would be improving the Civic as a performing arts and cultural center in the broadest sense, as a multi-use hall. Plans include the purchase of state of the art audio, visual, staging, and lighting systems. The Leadership Team is recommending two options be considered. One has fixed raked seats up to the mid-point of the theater, while the other proposes retractable seats that could expand the Civic’s current floor space by over 1000 square feet. The estimated renovation cost for the recommended plans is just under $20 million.

”A downtown performing arts center has been a priority of local arts groups for decades,” said Ellen Primack, chair of the Civic Leadership Team and Executive Director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, which produces two weeks of contemporary classical music performances at the Civic each summer, as well as co-producing the annual Church Street Fair. “The Civic holds such a unique place in the hearts and memories of Santa Cruz residents, and there is a real opportunity now to transform this community icon into the rich and vibrant gathering space that our community needs and deserves,” she added.

The Civic Auditorium Leadership Team was founded in 2012 and supported by a generous grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The team consists of city staff, non-profit leaders, and community members dedicated to a vision of a revitalized Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium (see list below).

“With the support of the Santa Cruz City Council, we can now move forward with our second stage of planning,” said Santa Cruz City Parks and Recreation Director, Dannettee Shoemaker, whose department runs the Civic Auditorium, and who sits on the Leadership Team.

“The Civic is a vital component of the cultural life of our County, and I’m pleased to be able to play a role in helping move this vision forward,” said County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty.

Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium Leadership Team: Ellen Primack, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Executive Director • Dannettee Shoemaker, City of Santa Cruz, Director of Parks and Recreation • Christina Cuevas, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Program Director • Ceil Cirillo, City of Santa Cruz, Former Redevelopment Agency Director • Jan Derecho, Santa Cruz Symphony, Executive Director • Mark Ellis, City of Santa Cruz, Chief Building Official • Nancy Loshkajian, Fundraising Professional • Beth Ragel, City of Santa Cruz, Economic Development Department • Michelle Williams, Arts Council Santa Cruz County, Executive Director • Dick Wilson, City of Santa Cruz, Former City Manager • Greg Handberg, Art Space, Sr. Vice-President, Properties • Kelley Lindquist, Art Space, President