Community leader Elizabeth 'Liz' Goldberg dies at ... - Almanac News

By David Boyce
Almanac Staff Writer
The idea of exposing an
underground creek and
allowing it to run through
the lawn at Portola Valley’s Town
Center moved closer to reality last
week, but the Town Council vote
that authorized it had an unusual
alignment.
On the question of whether the
council should support a proposal
to raise $1 million to free part of
Sausal Creek from a culvert buried
under the 11.2-acre site, an
environmental champion voted
against it, a spending skeptic
voted for it, and a hard-nosed
finance realist abstained.
A majority of the five-member
council, on a vote of 3-1-1, opted
to make an initial outlay of
$400,000 from the general fund
to design a 280-foot stretch of
creekbed for the north-flowing
creek after it passes from under
8 ■ The Almanac ■ September 19, 2007
the baseball field. The majority
echoed the sentiments of some 25
residents in the audience.
The new creekbed would form
a boundary between a community
green to the west and a native
meadow to the east. The creek
tends to be dry except during the
rainy part of the year.
The council acted Wednesday,
Sept. 12, after considering options
outlined in a report from a community
study last year. A consultant
experienced in “daylighting”
buried creeks gave a presentation.
The decision comes in the context
of an ongoing donor-funded
$20 million project — still about
$2.5 million short — to build a
new library, town hall, community
hall and recreational fields. A
grand opening is expected in late
2008.
Integrating a $1 million creek
element to the project would presumably
put the overall shortfall
N E W S
New twist in Park Theatre saga
■ Andy Duncan proposes city buy theater and lease it back to him.
By Rory Brown
Almanac Staff Writer
When Menlo Park resident
Andy Duncan
first came forward
with his plans to restore the Park
Theatre and turn it into a dance
studio, he asked the City Council
only for nods of approval.
But in August, he upped his
request and said he needed
$500,000 from the city to make
his plan a reality.
Now, he has a new plan: The
city should buy the 60-year-old
theater for $2.2 million, and
lease it to him.
The council could consider
Mr. Duncan’s latest proposal as
soon as Sept. 25.
Talking to a handful of residents
at a Sept. 12 community
meeting in the Burgess
Recreation Center, Mr. Duncan
unveiled a plan to restore the
exterior of the deteriorating
movie house on El Camino
Real, and remodel the interior
to make way for the Menlo Park
Academy of Dance. The dance
academy is currently housed
a block away from the theater,
and co-owned by Mr. Duncan’s
mother.
Mr. Duncan suggested the
city buy the theater and the
land from the current owner,
Atherton resident Howard Crittenden,
for $2.2 million. He’s
proposing that the city then
grant him a 55-year lease, so the
Menlo Park Academy of Dance
can move into the space.
Mr. Duncan said he would
pay the city $750,000 upfront,
plus ongoing payments yet to be
determined to lease the property.
He said he would foot the
bill for restoring historic elements
of the building, including
the exterior, the neon sign, the
ticket booth, and the lobby. The
costs of restoring the theater and
converting it into a dance studio
are estimated to be $2.5 million,
Mr. Duncan said.
Still public funds
Last month, Mr. Duncan
asked the City Council for a
$500,000 grant or loan for his
project, but many residents
have expressed major concerns
with giving taxpayer dollars to
a private business.
He called his new proposal a
“win-win,” stating that the theater
would be restored, and be
the city’s to keep once the lease
ends.
“Under this plan, we keep the
Menlo Park Academy of Dance
in downtown Menlo Park, and
the city gets a restored theater at
a major discount,” he said.
But other than Mayor Kelly
Fergusson, council members
have hesitated to support a plan
that requests the city pitch in
financially.
“Again, I have great reservations
with the city being a
partner in a private business
enterprise,” said Councilman
John Boyle.
Councilman Andy Cohen
said he didn’t see much in the
way of “public benefit” in Mr.
Duncan’s latest proposal.
Councilmen Richard Cline
and Heyward Robinson said
they needed more details on the
proposal before making a decision.
Precedent?
Mr. Duncan and Mayor Fergusson
said there is a precedent
for the city buying land and
leasing it to a private business:
the city owns the property at
1000 El Camino Real — the site
of an office building built by
Matteson Reality.
City Attorney Bill McClure
said in the 1970s, the city did
purchase — and still owns —
the 1000 El Camino Real site,
but the city acquired the land
during efforts to re-align Ravenswood
Avenue with Menlo Avenue.
The land was not acquired in
conjunction with Matteson
Reality, but the city opted to
lease the property, at marketrate
rent, after the road work
was completed, Mr. McClure
said. He said the lease lasts
through 2037. A
■ CORRECTION
The Almanac reported in a
Sept. 12 story that Councilman
Richard Cline was opposed
to using public funds to help
restore the Park Theatre. The
story should have read that
Councilman Andy Cohen, not Mr.
Cline, was opposed to the plan.
at $3.5 million, though fundraising
for the creek would be a separate
matter.
Mayor Ted Driscoll, Councilwoman
Maryann Moise Derwin
and Councilman Richard Merk
voted to spend $400,000 for a
creek design.
“We run around town waving
our little green flag,” Ms. Moise
Derwin said. The town taxes
itself to create open space and it’s
not going to daylight a creek? “It’s
absurd,” she said. “We are stewards
of natural resources, which
includes creeks and ponds. I think
we should just do it.”
Moving the project to $21
million from $20 million “will
energize fundraising,” said Mr.
Merk, who frequently indicates
a preference to err on the side of
caution. “It’s a risk that we need
to take.”
In response to a reminder from
Councilman Steve Toben that,
in 2005, the council agreed to
Is the Park Theatre
really historic?
By Rory Brown
Almanac Staff Writer
Add Menlo Park Historical
Association board
members to the list of
people who don’t think taxpayer
dollars should be used to
restore the Park Theatre.
Their reasoning is that the
deteriorating 60-year-old theater
isn’t really all that historic.
“We think there’s a lot of
other buildings with a higher
priority for historical designation
than a cement building
built 60 years ago,” said Gilbert
Workman, a member of
the nonprofit’s board, which
documents the city’s history.
Mr. Workman said he and
his seven colleagues on the
board voted unanimously
to oppose the use of public
funds to restore the Park. Mr.
Workman relayed the message
the following evening
when Menlo Park resident
Andy Duncan presented a
new plan to restore the theater
that would require the
city to first buy the El Camino
Real property.
“Whether it’s for historical
preservation or some other
reason, every other business
in town may want city funds
if this plan gets approved,” Mr.
Workman said. He noted that
older buildings, such as the
Open creek in the works for Town Center project
not draw from the general fund
for capital projects, Mr. Driscoll
said the town would borrow the
$400,000 from the general fund.
The town also has an untapped
$4 million line of credit from the
county.
Abstaining was Councilman Ed
Davis, the council’s finance man,
who cited the funding shortfall
and the countervailing argument
of community momentum
behind creek daylighting.
“You’re seeing a person who’s
really torn,” he said. “We’ve been
running this project on time or
slightly under time, and on budget
or slightly under budget. This
complexity so late in this project
adds a degree of risk.”
Mr. Toben called adding the
creek element a “bet on the
come,” a poker term describing
a player who, expecting to draw
good cards, bets on a hand “to
come.”
“I don’t think that’s prudent,”
British Bankers Club building,
which was built in 1926 and
served as home to city hall,
the library and police station,
are more worthy of historical
designation.
Cultural relevance
But Mr. Duncan and his
San Francisco-based architect,
Mike Garavaglia, said the
cultural relevance of the Park
Theatre, not necessarily its
age, is what makes it historically
significant.
Mr. Garavaglia said the
theater is likely to be eligible
for the National Registry of
Historical Landmarks, a list
of landmarks that allows a
20 percent federal tax break
on restoring the building,
because art deco-style theaters
aren’t easy to come by.
“These one-screen theaters
are becoming less and less
common,” Mr. Garavaglia
said. “This project would
restore the key aspects of the
theater that make it unique. ...
I’ve seen other projects like his
get on the national list.”
Mayor Kelly Fergusson, one
of the strongest proponents of
Mr. Duncan’s efforts to restore
the theater, has repeatedly said
the restoration of the theater
makes the use of public funds
worthwhile.
“Preservation of a cultural
resource is an asset,” she said. A
he said. “We don’t have $500,000
in our pocket to launch this part
of the project.”
Community support
The council audience included
several creek optimists. “If we
start a fundraising drive, we will
have the money in no time,” said
resident Marianne Plunder.
“I think we’ve been headed this
way for a long time,” said resident
Danna Breen, adding that the
creek would “complete” the project.
“If it is practical to do so without
derailing the (overall) project,
I think (this alternative) would be
a good one,” said resident Derry
Kabcenell. Mr. Kabcenell and
his wife Charlene have donated
$1 million to the Town Center
project.
As to the safety of an open
creek, Marty Mackowski, a member
of the community group that
studied the issue, said he had
heard of no liability issues in conversations
with officials in other
California towns with creeks. A