TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
John Jalili, Interim City Manager
FROM:
Mark Leyman, Parks and Recreation Director
Tony Olmos, Public Works Director
SUBJECT:Title
Placement of a Historical Real Estate Structure in Polliwog Park (Parks and Recreation Director Leyman).
APPROVE
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that City Council approve the placement of a Historical Real Estate structure in Polliwog Park.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The relocation and rehabilitation of the Historical Real Estate structure will be funded through the Historical Society in collaboration with an Eagle Scout Project. The cost estimate for the City to prepare the concrete slab foundation and provide electricity to the structure including staff and materials is $6,500. The $6,500 will be funded through the Public Works park operations budget.
BACKGROUND:
In August of 2012 the President of the Historical Society contacted staff to preserve a Historical Real Estate structure (Attachment 1) that would have otherwise been removed and demolished. The City established an agreement with the Historical Society (Attachment 2) to store the structure temporarily at the Public Works Yard while the refurbishment and future location were discussed. The Historical Society paid to transport the structure from downtown Manhattan Beach (adjacent to Von's Supermarket) to the City Public Works Yard.
The Historical Society partnered with an Eagle Scout to discuss relocating and refurbishing the historic structure and selected Polliwog Park as the desired site, adjacent to the Little Red House Historical Building in Polliwog Park. As Polliwog Park is owned by the Manhattan Beach Unified School District, the Historical Society first proposed the project to the School Board. The School Board approved the project, permitting the placement of the structure in Polliwog Park near the Little Red Historical House.
Upon receiving approval from the School District, the project was presented to the Parks and Recreation Commission on September 9, 2013. The Commission requested additional project information which was presented at the September 23, 2013 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. The Commission recommended approval to the City Council for the relocation of the structure to Polliwog Park and for the City to provide the concrete pad and electrical.
DISCUSSION:
The proposed Eagle Scout project will restore the structure to the appearance of a real estate office in Manhattan Beach in approximately 1912. The restoration work will be done by volunteers including Boy Scouts and adult scout leaders, Historical Society members and restoration and building professionals.
The restoration of the structure will include: refinishing the exterior by sanding and painting; replacing the roof's shingles; installing historically accurate windows and entrance door; and weatherproofing to include insulation and dry-wall in the interior. The exterior will mirror the original structure with off-white base color with historic exterior signage (Attachment 1). The historic signage will reflect the original office with language such as: "Ocean Front Lots" $50 down and $10 per month.
As the Historical Society does not have any documentation to recreate the interior of a real estate office, the interior of the structure will be completely sealed for use as a storage area for the Historical Society's growing collection of materials; not historical documents, which require special care, but for signage, pottery, and other larger objects that has related usage, as well as for furniture. The structure will be a secured storage facility with no heating or air conditioning.
While the Historical Society has not been able to document the specific realtor that the historic real estate structure actually served, the structure will be one of Manhattan Beach's oldest remaining structures.
The Historical Society will pay for transportation costs of the structure from the City's public works yard to Polliwog Park. The structure will be placed near the Little Red Cottage that houses the Historical Society Museum (Attachment 1) which the City owns and maintains. The Historical Real Estate structure will also be maintained by the City, once the restoration has been completed and accepted by the City.
Public Works will prepare the site for the installation of the structure. Preparation will include trenching and installation of a conduit for power and a phone line for the security system, soil removal, sprinkler modifications and re-grading of the area for the concrete slab. The concrete slab will be poured to accommodate the 12X14 feet structure that is 13 feet high at its peak. The total cost estimate from the Public Works Department is $6,500 which includes materials and labor. All additional costs will be funded through the Eagle Scout and Historical Society. Once completed, the City will assume a very limited amount of annual operating expense which will primarily be electricity for those few times that the interior lighting is used and insurance. In addition, the structure will be added to the City's facilities inventory which means some future long-term maintenance and repair.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the placement of a Historical Real Estate structure in Polliwog Park.
Attachments:
1. Historical Manhattan Beach Real Estate Office Structure Photos (Historic photo, current structure and map of proposed installation site)
2. Temporary Storage Agreement for Historical Real Estate Structure