TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Tony Olmos, Public Works Director
SUBJECT:Title
Review Conceptual Roundhouse Aquarium Design (Continued from the March 1, 2016 City Council Meeting) (Public Works Director Olmos).
REVIEW AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
Line
_________________________________________________________
Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that City Council:
1. Review conceptual aquarium design at the Roundhouse and provide direction,
2. Direct staff to prepare a Cooperative Agreement between the City, Oceanographic Teaching Stations, Inc.(OTS), and the Harrison Greenberg Memorial Foundation (Foundation),
3. Direct staff to work closely with OTS and the Foundation to prepare a scope-of-work and issue a Request-for-Proposal to hire a Project Manager, and
4. Form a City Council ad-hoc subcommittee to receive regular status reports on the project.
Body
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The proposed aquarium renovation project is expected to be primarily funded by the Foundation. The Foundation has committed $1.25 million towards the project and will undertake additional fundraising efforts to meet the estimated total project cost range between $1.6M and $2.5M.
The City had expected to spend approximately $150,000 on Roundhouse improvements as part of a current CIP project. If the aquarium project is to move forward, staff would recommend contributing these funds and an additional $100,000 of in-kind services towards this project since the City is a key stakeholder. The $150,000 would be used for construction costs only and would have been spent to improve the Roundhouse, with or without the aquarium project. These funds would come from the Pier Fund, which can only be used for expenses incurred for the Pier, Roundhouse, and Comfort Station.
All funding commitments and appropriations will be addressed as part of the aforementioned three-party Cooperative Agreement that would be brought before City Council at a subsequent meeting.
BACKGROUND:
The Foundation led by Mr. Michael Greenberg has proposed to make a major investment to fully renovate the existing aquarium located at the Roundhouse at the end of the pier. Mr. Greenberg is proposing to undertake this effort to honor the memory of his late son, Harrison Greenberg, that had a deep love for the ocean, marine life, and the City of Manhattan Beach.
The aquarium is currently operated by OTS. OTS is made up of volunteers who all contribute to maintain the health and safety of all of the marine animals under their care and also teach numerous classes to hundreds of grade-school students each year.
For this project, OTS hired Allen, Atwater & Associates (AAA) to develop a conceptual design.
DISCUSSION:
Simon Allen, the lead designer with AAA, separately met City, OTS, and the Foundation to start formulating a collective vision for the project. As a result, Mr. Allen developed a design that transforms the existing aquarium into a world-class aquarium, using the entire Roundhouse footprint. All parties concurred that the conceptual design incorporated elements that were important to each party. Unfortunately, the use of the entire Roundhouse footprint would impact the existing café. If this project and design is to move forward, direction regarding the disposition of the café would need to be provided.
Slides depicting the conceptual design are included in Attachment 1. Staff will be showing a 3D walk-through simulation of the proposed design at the City Council meeting.
The conceptual design includes the following elements:
Ground Floor Plan:
The space currently occupied by the café will become the entrance lobby for the Aquarium. Immediately in front of the visitor, as he or she enters the building, there will be a “tunnel” tank, leading between the two utility spaces (men’s restrooms to the left, women’s restrooms/Aquarium back-of-house functions to the right) providing access to the main Aquarium space on the West side of the building. The lobby space would be large enough to accommodate a “Welcome-wall” (a multi-media wall welcoming the visitor, providing a dynamic orientation to the facility, explaining the Mission of the Aquarium, etc.), donor recognition, and didactics related to the narrative of the visitor experience (ecological habitats, animal ID’s etc.).
The “tunnel tank” (inside dimensions approximately 5’ wide by 9’ long) would serve as the “Rocky-reef” habitat tank, and would provide an appropriate setting for the Aquarium’s large eels. The rocky-reef habitat, of all the local habitats, provides an opportunity for the most colorful, visually interesting tank aqua-scaping, which could logically be carried all the way up to the top of the tank. The tunnel also serves to control ambient light intrusion from the lobby (which retains the large windows on the East side of the Roundhouse) into the main body of the ground floor exhibit area. By beginning the visitor experience with a walk-through tunnel, the visitor “dives” into ocean exploration at the Roundhouse.
Upon exiting the “Rocky-reef” tunnel, immediately to the visitor’s right along the base of and wrapped around the stair wall will be the Tide-pool/touch-tank complex. The tide-pool/touch-tank complex is central the Aquarium’s teaching curriculum, so its placement as the first exhibit component the visitor encounters upon exiting the Rocky-reef tunnel tank makes thematic and functional sense. The complex’s shape, with multiple pools, designed to emulate the look and feel of indigenous Southern California tide-pools, arrayed around a larger central acrylic-fronted tank, allows the rear-most pool to be roped off to restrict access (for quarantine/sequestration). The touch-pools would be arranged at heights appropriate to different age groups, with at least one being wheelchair-accessible. A large flat-screen monitor (essential for the Aquarium’s teaching function) would be mounted above the tide-pool complex.
All available wall space around the periphery of the ground floor would be occupied by new, full-height habitat tanks, which would be framed in matching, curved, organically-shaped composite or HPL walls. Windows on the South and West walls of the Aquarium would be retained (with the addition of UV control window film and remote-controlled shades for ambient light control) to highlight the connection between the Aquarium’s animal exhibits and its unique location on the Pacific Ocean. This arrangement, with the visitor/student surrounded by full-height habitat tanks and views of the ocean, coupled with the ability to control ambient light levels, the black acoustic ceiling, unified tank surrounds, and improved exhibit and building lighting, would serve to create a more theatrical, immersive visitor experience.
In addition to a new, large, Sharks Tank, there would be a large, dramatically-lit Jellies kreisel tank (which would also serve as a deep ocean/pelagic habitat tank), two other full-height tanks that could be programmed as Sandy Bottom and Kelp Forrest habitat tanks, and a bubble tank, which would be the last exhibit component children encountered before the exit.
Along the stairs, as you climb to the second floor, will be a graphic representation of life at various ocean depths, starting in the deep ocean and ascending into the inter-tidal. Alternatively, this space could be used for an updated Trash Timeline Exhibit, which was identified by multiple constituents as a “must-have” component in the new Aquarium.
Second Floor Plan:
The second floor would become a more modular, flexible, interactive space. Rather than large, more or less permanent installations, live-animal and dry exhibits would be designed to be reconfigurable, using a modular, interchangeable table system. This would provide the opportunity to refresh the exhibits periodically, and to create themed, and/or topical exhibits. The emphasis would be on touch-ability, interaction, and open-ended inquiry (and could provide an appropriate setting for a potential octopus exhibit). Along the edge of the mezzanine would also be the most appropriate place for marine-mammal interpretation, tied to full scale models flown from the ceiling.
Using a single life-support supply and “wet-table”-type live-animal exhibits would increase versatility, and maximize use of available space. These tables could also incorporate space underneath for holding/ quarantine tanks. Reserving part of the upstairs space for dry exhibits, coupled with modular/movable fixtures/furniture, would also allow the space to be reconfigured for other uses (meetings, etc.). This space, which would be adjacent to the top of the “Rocky-reef” tunnel, also provides programming opportunities (timed feedings, for example).
Exterior:
The exterior architecture of the Roundhouse will not be modified, except for the entry on the east side. The project will also include exterior improvements to improve the condition of the building. These will include, but not be limited to, roof repairs, painting, new shutters, windows, and exterior wall repairs.
Cost Contributions and Potential Next Steps:
The total project cost estimate for this design is in the range of $1.6M to $2.5M. As mentioned, the project would be primarily funded by the Harrison Foundation and a City contribution of approximately $250,000, which includes $150,000 to improve the condition of the Roundhouse (with or without aquarium project) and $100,000 of in-kind City services, i.e. staff costs, permit fees, and inspection, etc. The Harrison Foundation and OTS will be looking for ways to raise addition funds to fully fund the project.
If the City Council is supportive of the project, there are a few immediate next steps that are recommended:
• First, a three-party Cooperative Agreement beween the City, OTS, and the Foundation (Stakeholders) will need to be drafted to memorialize commitments and conditions from all parties. This agreement would be drafted within the next two months and come back to City Council for approval. A draft term sheet is attached for reference.
• Secondly & concurrently, the Stakeholders will need to hire a project manager that will be the key person to forming the overall professional consultant team. The Stakeholders recommend that the City issue the RFP on behalf of the group and execute all professional services contracts to keep contract management centralized.
• For oversight of this high-profile project, staff recommends that the City Council form an ad-hoc subcommittee that would receive regular reports from the project team.
Given the challenges of designing the improvements, obtaining permits from State agencies (Coastal Commission, State Parks & Recreation), coordinating the temporary relocation of the aquarium, and constructing the project, a conceptual schedule was developed. At best case and most-aggressive scenario, the pre-construction activities will take approximately 9 months with construction starting in January/February 2017 and completed by June 2017. If the target construction date cannot be met for any reason, then the earliest the construction may commence would be in September 2017 to allow for unobstructed use of the pier during the summer months.
POLICY ALTERNATIVES:
City Council may choose to not move forward with any additional steps leading to the renovation of the Roundhouse Aquarium.
Pros:
City in-kind services funds would not be spent.
Cons:
The opportunity to transform the existing aquarium would be lost.
ENVINRONMENTAL REVIEW:
An environmental review will be conducted during the final design phase for the project.
Attachments:
1. Conceptual Design
2. Draft Term Sheet
3. Roundhouse Aquarium Conceptual Design Video