Galleries’ survival threatened by railway expansion plans
Uncertainty surrounds future of Santa Monica
By Carren Jao. News, Issue 235, May 2012
Published online: 27 April 2012
The expansion of the new Exposition Light Rail (Expo)
connecting downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica means major changes to the
Bergamot Station Arts Center, a 7.4-acre complex that houses 35 galleries in
several metal-clad industrial buildings. An 18-year-old art space is being
threatened with destruction and gallery owners worry they could be pushed out
by rising rents when the new railway stop opens in 2015.
Track 16, a 12,000 sq. ft art space, is due to be torn down
to make way for a platform as early as August. “We’re being put out of business
basically,” says the owner Tom Patchett, who co-funded the development of the
Bergamot Station complex in 1994. He feels that the city has done little to
ensure the gallery’s continued operation. “We’re being kicked out because they
need this property, but we’re not being relocated within a similar community.
If we go elsewhere, we can’t do what we’re doing now.”
The additional rail stop is projected to bring in about 3,500
people to Bergamot Station every day. The Santa
Monica
The plan has been met either with cautious optimism or
outright opposition from gallery owners, who have taken part in seven community
meetings over the past year. “This plan is only a suggestion. We have no idea
what we’re going to be getting,” says Carol Kleinman, the co-owner of TAG
Gallery, who worries that galleries will be replaced by higher-paying
commercial tenants.
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