Public Hearing on Proposals for Empty Wing at 801 Magnolia

The Piedmont City Council's regular meeting Monday, May 6, includes a public hearing at 7:30 on competing proposals for what to do with the vacant, east wing of a city-owned former church at 801 Magnolia Avenue.

The city acquired the building from the Christian Science Church in 2003 and in 2011 leased a portion of it to the newly established Piedmont Center for the Arts, which has become a successful venue for local events and activities.

The city has been planning to use the unleased east wing, the former Sunday school section, for childcare and other programs by the Recreation Department.

Meanwhile, the Piedmont Center for the Arts has expressed interest in using the space to expand its programs.

The City Council decided to allow members of the community to submit alternative proposals by a May 1 deadline, and three proposals were submitted. They can be viewed on the city website.

After the public hearing, the council may decide which proposal to adopt.

In a staff report to the council, City Administrator Geoff Grote said the intent of the 2011 lease agreement with the Center for the Arts was to reserve the east wing for city use. The agreement gave the center a 10-year lease to a part of the building in exchange for the center undertaking improvements to the whole building.

"The improvements installed by PCA (Piedmont Center for the Arts) as compensation for the 10 year term of their lease were intended to make improvements to the entirety of the structure, thus allowing PCA and City use," Grote says in the report. "It was always contemplated that there would be public programming in the portion of the building not leased to PCA."

If the City Council decides to lease the east wing to the center, then the financial deal with the center for the building will have to be altered, Grote says.

The staff report, with one section by Grote and another by Director of Recreation Mark Delventhal, also is posted on the city website.

The three community proposals for the east wing are

1. from Piedmont Center for the Arts – expansion of current programs and addition of new ones, including:

• Open, Senior clubhouse hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11-3 every week,
• Dance and Art workshops/seminars geared specifically to Seniors in terms of content and hours offered.
• A program by the lnstitute for Development of Education in the Arts, a weekly class for senior adults about arts professions.
• Providing rehearsal space for a community orchestra.
• Creation of a film/screening venue for community use.
• Daytime and evening art classes
• On-going photography classes, workshops and displays
• A permanent closet designed and built for storage of the City's Block Books and Sanborn maps.
• Wall space in the EastWng dedicated to usage by The Piedmont Historical Society.

2. from Dion Lim – establish "Piedmont Maker Space, a 21st Century Innovation Hub," modeled after non-profit spaces supported by participant fees and focused on creativity and collaboration. It would include hands-on learning, projects and crafts with a variety of tools that could include computers and 3D printers in addition to more traditional implements. 

3. from Hope Salzar – a center tentatively titled the "Piedmont Center for World Languages and Cultures," including

• Piedmont Language School, Piedmont Asian-American Club, and Piedmont Appreciating Diversity Committee events (including Cinco de Mayo, Chinese New Year, Diversity Film Series, MLK commemoration, etc.)
• a foreign language lending library (with books and audio-instructional materials for foreign language learners or those wanting to maintain their fluency) perhaps also organizing foreign language book clubs
• a Foreign Film series
• Speaker Series on world affairs
• World Music (instrumental or vocal) concerts (e.g. Javanese gamalan, Chinese instruments, African drumming, etc)
• Art classes and lectures (e.g. Japanese brush painting, Chinese calligraphy, Native American bead looming)
• Lectures on International current events and crises (promoting understanding of situations past and present such as Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, North Korea, etc.)
• Celebrations to promote cultural and religious literacy (e.g. Chinese New Year, Duvali, Losar, Rosh Hashanah) 

In addition to making comments at the public hearing, citizens can provide feedback before the council acts via email to City Clerk John Tulloch at by sending an email to jtulloch@ci.piedmont.ca.us.