At a time when the city of Santa Barbara is facing one of the worst economic challenges in its history, architects gave a presentation to the city council on Thursday to discuss their vision of the center.
The Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Institute of Architects presented ideas for housing, walkways, a downtown linear park, events, art, concerts, and an overall utopia for what Santa Barbara could look like if everyone worked together.
“I think we all feel the weight of this moment, the importance of the year ahead and all the decisions we are going to make for our city, and the consequent nature of this time we find ourselves in,” said Meagan Harmon. “We now have the opportunity to make a transformational change that will affect the future of our city for generations to come.”
The AIA-SB held a multi-day “charrette,” a French word for an intense collaborative session, in which more than 160 volunteers formed teams to study State Street. Several teams studied ideas for plazas, paseos and open spaces, even redeveloping State Street into a linear park. There is also talk of setting up a public-private partnership, such as a foundation, that would raise money for events, capital improvements and programming.
The architects have put together a 330-page book of their findings.
“These are ideas,” said architect Detty Peikert. “They’re meant to inspire and encourage people to explore, to define that vision for the future of downtown and State Street.”
The city took no action, usually at the request of city attorney Ariel Calonne, who reminded the city council that only a presentation – not discussion – was on the agenda for Thursday’s 4:00 pm special council meeting.
The city plans to launch a website shortly that will provide information on downtown housing options, another goal of the architects.
The group is looking at the adaptive reuse of existing buildings and the possibilities of building on open parking spaces.
Nina Johnson, assistant to the city administrator, started the discussion, mixing optimism with the reality of the moment.
“We come to you at a time of tremendous opportunities and challenges,” said Johnson. “This is a very challenging time because of the pandemic and staying home. Businesses are in a very difficult place to make ends meet.”
Jim Knell, founder of the SIMA Corp. and a critic of the city, spoke at the meeting.
“You can’t help but feel excited, but at the same time I’m disappointed with where we are now,” said Knell.
He said there are more than 60 job openings between Highway 101 and Sola Street.
“When you’re talking about a partnership with the city and stakeholders, I think you’re going to jump the gun,” he said. “Many property owners have lost faith in the city and the process, especially when you consider State Street status now.”
Knell said the economy of affordable housing is not working in downtown Santa Barbara. He also said the city assumes it has a buy-in from property owners, when it doesn’t.
“State Street has changed an awful lot in the last three years, and most of it has been worse,” said Knell.
Councilor Alejandra Gutierrez said she is optimistic.
“As a city, we need to think outside the box and work with nonprofits and private funders to fund an idea like this and future ideas to improve the community,” she said.
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