Peninsula Museum of Art looking for home

To make way for the new building which could rise as high as seven floors, Muzzi said he notified the art museum that the lease could be terminated by November, depending on the progress of his yet-to-be submitted plans.

Museum founder and executive director Ruth Waters said the decision was not entirely unexpected, as the creative space was always aware that the threat of redevelopment loomed.

“It was not a surprise, but it was a shock,” said Waters, who received the lease termination message late last year.

Since then, she said those associated with the establishment which houses both the art museum and Peninsula Art Institute have started the search for a new place to set up shop.

But as property prices continually climb, especially for spaces comparable to the museum’s current 18,000-square-foot building, Waters said the exploration is proving challenging.

“We are looking very, very strenuously for new space. But that’s not an easy thing to find,” said Waters, who established the artistic hub in 1977. The center exhibits art, hosts shows and special events, houses artist studios, offers classes, as well as many other platforms for local creators.

The museum’s property pursuit could be made even more difficult by the Burlingame City Council’s decision to upzone the area surrounding its current location, in an effort to facilitate construction of more transit-oriented development near the Millbrae train station.

In discussions of the zoning amendments approved under the city’s general plan update, officials repeatedly acknowledged the areas where development policy is loosened would become considerably more valuable.

To that end, Muzzi said he is hopeful his development catalyzes a series of similar projects nearby, in alignment with the city’s goal to establish a new neighborhood in the area.

“Hopefully it will start a chain reaction for the whole block,” said Muzzi, whose brother Vince is proposing the sweeping Serra Station mixed-used project at the nearby Millbrae train station.

For her part, Waters credited city officials for their assistance with seeking a new home for the museum in Burlingame, though she is not optimistic such an outcome is possible.

“We would love to stay in Burlingame. But there’s got to be a roof over our heads somewhere, and I don’t see it,” she said.

Waters said she reached out to the developer rebuilding the Burlingame post office property with hopes of filling some space at the forthcoming project proposed downtown, but has heard no response.

As a result, Waters said museum officials expanded their search to Redwood City, where she believes there could be an opportunity to occupy some of the elementary school campuses recently shuttered due to declining enrollment.

The museum is forming an alliance with other nonprofit art groups to raise money among like-minded organizations which could share the expansive former education spaces. As part of that effort, Waters said the museum is discussing a partnership with Broadway By the Bay and the Dragon Theatre to see if the drama organizations have interest in cohabiting any future Redwood City site.

“That would be a real, centralized destination for the people interested in not just visual arts but performing and literary arts,” said Waters, who has been collaborating with Redwood City officials to discuss the vision for the school property. Before the museum was in Burlingame, it was in Belmont.

Ultimately, with the variety of options on the table, Waters said she is hopeful a solution can be identified which will preserve the creative collaborative.

“We’re flailing around and looking for possibilities and gathering our troops and hoping things work out,” she said. “Because it would be really sad to lose what we have got.”

austin@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 105