Belmont mulls fate of art centers

The city nets about $73,000 a year in rents from both facilities but Jonathan Gervais, the city’s Parks and Recreation director, proposes the city can make a lot more money from the two buildings if rents are raised.

The Manor House is located at Twin Pines Park and is home to the Belmont Arts Council, the Peninsula Arts Council and the Peninsula Museum of Art on the first floor while 13 art studios sit on the top floor. 1870 Art Center at the old Barrett Elementary School is home to 26 art studios and is also used by the Parks and Recreation Department for various recreation programs and is home to a teen center and daycare facility.

Gervais is seeking the City Council’s direction on what the best use should be for both buildings.

Gervais has charged the council with deciding whether the two buildings should be used to attract more visitors, whether the buildings should host more Belmont-centered activities or whether the city should try to increase revenue from the two properties.

Of the 39 artists that occupy both buildings, less than a third are actually Belmont residents, a fact that irks Vice Mayor Coralin Feierbach.

Feierbach wants Belmont residents to have greater access to the art studios and has proposed charging out-of-town artists more to rent their spaces than Belmont residents.

A complete conversion of the Barrett property would generate the most income for the city, Gervais told the council Tuesday night.

The council mandated city departments to find cost-savings this year as it grapples with cutting a $1.3 million budget deficit.

Artists who occupy the two buildings, however, feel the city is unfairly targeting them as it addresses its budget.

Ruth Waters, the founder of the 1870 Art Center and Peninsula Museum of Art, said artists who occupy the two buildings would be willing to move to another location if the city jacks the rents up too high. Leases have expired for the two properties and Waters said she has not been paid in two months by the city to collect the rents from artists. She is paid $600 a month by the city to collect the rents.

Gervais described the situation as "emotionally charged.”

Nine speakers urged the council to take it easy on the artists at Tuesday night’s meeting. Waters first established an art center in Belmont back in 1985.

Studio space at 1870 Art Center goes for about $275 a month for its current 26 artists who pay annual rent increases based on the consumer-price index, Waters said. The artists also pay for their own gas and telephone service.

Gervais proposes raising the rents to be more in line with market rates.

"The current lease rate is 59 percent lower than the proposed benchmark rate of $1 per square foot per month. The city’s annual net revenue from the Manor Building, based on current rates, is expected to be less than $18,000 after expenses. In comparison, the Lodge and Cottage rentals gross approximately $60,000 annually and the Senior Center grosses approximately $80,000 annually for evening and weekend rental only,” Gervais wrote in a staff report.

The report also indicates it dropped the $600 a month it pays Waters from its budget.

Studio space goes for about 50 cents a square foot at 1870 Art Center and Gervais proposes to raise that figure to 75 cents a square foot.

"Staff has held two meetings with the director of the 1870 Art Center and one with 1870 artists on June 8, 2010. Staff described the economic conditions, discussed rents and encouraged the artists to start to engage the community by conducting classes through the department, inviting the community into the facility and outreach to schools,” Gervais writes in the report.

Waters thinks it is unfortunate the artists have been singled out as an obstacle in solving the city’s deficit.

 "They want control of city-owned properties to maximize revenue,” Waters said.

Councilman David Braunstein reminded Gervais Tuesday night that Belmont’s own vision statement, amended in 2003, includes being an arts hub for the Peninsula.

The council took no action on whether to raise rents or find other uses for the facilities at Tuesday’s meeting.

The issue will come back to council at a future meeting.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.