The Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday awarded a $16.7 million construction contract to renovate the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center and Bathhouse.
The city is undertaking a massive renovation of the building at 1118 E. Cabrillo Blvd., right on the beach.
Plans call for a renovation of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and communication systems, and structural and seismic and accessibility upgrades.
Council members unanimously voted to award the contract to Diani Building Corp of Santa Maria.
The renovation project also includes installing a beach boardwalk; storm water improvements; restoring the Bathhouse lobby; renovating the men’s and women’s shower and locker facilities; adding multi-purpose rooms for gym/fitness, recreation programs, meetings and special events; building a new small tenant space and renovating the area for a restaurant concession, according to a city staff report.
“If we don’t move forward now it is going to be the death of that building,” said Beebe Longstreet, who has served on the Parks & Recreation Commission for 22 years. “We’ll end up with Franceschi House.”
The project has multiple sources to pay for the renovation but there is still a $4.8-million funding gap for the $20.2-million project.
Bond money from the former redevelopment agency will pay for about $9.6 million of the project cost, and the city plans to spend about $1 million from its capital budget.
About $1.1 million in oil settlement proceeds related to the 2015 Refugio oil spill has also been set aside for the project.
The city plans to raise $4 million through a fundraising capital campaign, and staff members are also applying for grant funds, according to a staff report.
The city will use general fund reserves to pay for the unfunded project costs.
After the meeting Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider told Noozhawk:
"What a tremendous opportunity we have to revitalize this 90-year old historic resource for all Santa Barbarans, partnering with a great group of community leaders on this new capital campaign and working with a local and well respected contractor to polish this jewel," Schneider said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
