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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7.1 Dublin Transit Center Public Art Project r' OF DpB~y 82 AGENDA STATEMENT HERITAGE AND CULTURAL ARTS COMMISSION MEETING DATE: August 12, 2010 SUBJECT: Dublin Transit Center Public Art Project Report by John Hartnett, Heritage & Cultural Arts Manager ATTACHMENTS: 1) Slides of the Concept Design will be presented at the meeting 2) Public Comments regarding Concept Design 3) Photos of Temporary Power Poles RECOMMENDATION: 1) Receive presentation from Art Consultant, Chandra Cerrito; 2) Receive Public Comments; and 3) Recommend Artwork Design to City Council FINANCIAL STATEMENT: $250,000 is available in the City's Public Art Fund from the Alameda County Surplus Properiy Authority (ACSPA) for public art at the Dublin Transit Center. BACKGROUND: In May 2003, the Alameda County Surplus Property Authority (ACSPA) entered into a Development Agreement with the City of Dublin for the Dublin Transit Center Project. As part of the agreement, the Developer agreed to contribute Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars 250,000.00) for construction of public art which has since been deposited into the City's Public Art Fund. In Fiscal Year 2004-2005, the City Council rated as a high priority goal: work with the developer to locate significant works of art in two key places of the Dublin Transit Center, the Village Green (now called Campbell Green) and the Iron Horse Plaza. Although the original focused area for the artwork was to include areas near Campbell Green and the BART plaza, in December 2009, the City Council accepted an offer from Avalon Bay Development to contribute $50,000 for artwork at the location adjacent to the Campbell Green, leaving the BART plaza area as the sole location for the project. In August, 2009, after an extensive artist recruitment process coordinated by Art Consultant, Chandra Cerrito, the Artist Selection Committee recommended Cliff Garten for the Transit Center Art Project to the City Council; subsequently, the City Council approved the recommendation and authorized Staff to enter into an agreement with Cliff Garten to proceed with a conceptual design for a stipend of $10,000. Mr. Garten received his Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design and his Master of Landscape Architecture with distinction from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. Mr. Garten is founder of Cliff Garten Studio in Venice, California. His practice integrates architecture, landscape and engineering as a means of positioning his sculpture in the public realm. COPIES TO: ITEM NO.: 7.1 G:UIERITAGE COMMISSION\AGENDA STMTS\2010\8-12 Transit Center Public Art 7.l.doc Some of his numerous public art project installations include artwork at: • Moffet Towers in Sunnyvale • Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco • Central Phoenix / East Valley Light Rail Transit in Phoenix, Arizona • Euclid Corridor Transportation Project in Cleveland, Ohio • Walnut Creek Veterans Memorial, Walnut Creek, California • San Jose Public Library-Tully Road Branch in San Jose, California • Main Street Light Rail, 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. This past year, the Americans for the Arts' 2010 Public Art Year in Review recognized Cliff Garten Studio's Sentient Beings in North Hollywood, California, as one of 40 of the year's best public art works in the United States and Canada. DESCRIPTION: For the Transit Center Project, the artist has designed a stainless steel sculpture entitled "Dubliner." The piece is 20 feet in height, including a 2'-7" stainless steel pedestal. At the top, the sculpture is 3'-2" wide and tapers slightly on the way down the piece. As described by the artist, "the sculpture's quality is complemented by its lightness and intangible atmospheric qualities attributable to their open structure and how its structures gather both sunlight and Light Emitting Diode (LED) colored light". The column is made from 'h"diameter brushed stainless steel rods, shaped using a hydraulic press to form a gently twisting surface. The surface of each stainless steel rod is finely worked to achieve a surface that will give an interesting interaction with sunlight during the day and at night, through the LED light located in the center of the column. Additionally, five white "High Intensity Discharge" (HID) light fixtures are located around the perimeter to light the exterior of the piece. The lighting system is fully programmable, with an access panel located on the pedestal, and colors can appear from 30 seconds to a minute or longer before they fade into another color. The twisting form creates moire patterns when one moves around the piece. One interesting feature of the artwork is that as one gets closer to the art piece, the view looking up the column will allow a person to discover six clover shaped supporting rings within the structure, representing a subtle suggestion of the City's trademark to visitors and residents alike. The column is mounted on a stainless steel pedestal which is bolted to a depression in the concrete footing. The footing bolts will be covered with a stainless steel plate so that no bolting is visible above grade. The sculpture can be put in place with a small crane and final installation can be done in one day. The sculpture will be located in the landscaped area adjacent to the pedestrian walkway on the median in front of the Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station entry. Installation of the artwork is anticipated to be completed by summer 2011. The public input was overwhelmingly supportive of Cliff Garten's design during the period that the concept design was unveiled to the community in July (Attachment 2). Electrical Power At the initiation of the design process it was anticipated that the Avalon Dublin Station II - Site C development, which included a new transformer and meter panel in close proximity to the artwork, would have begun construction by the time the piece was ready for installation. However, due to a delay in the project construction, Site C is not scheduled to commence until the latter part of Fiscal Year 2011-2012. As Site C was the closest available power source, finding an alternate supply of electricity has been a 2of3 challenge. Through meetings with PG&E, Avalon Bay Development and local electrical contractors, Staff explored a variety of alternates for electrical power. In all cases the feasibility of a semi permanent source was impractical or cost prohibitive. Staff recognizes the integral nature of lighting to the artwork and pursued options for temporary power. Although not ideal, temporary power is the only feasible option at this time in order to have the artwork lit at the time of installation. The alternative would be to delay lighting the artwork until such time that the Avalon Dublin Station II - Site C development is reactivated. As proposed, overhead power poles could be run from an existing transformer in the vicinity of Campbell Green along the eastside perimeter of Demarcus Boulevard to a location directly across the street from the artwork. An underground line would be run from the lighting source for the artwork to the first power pole, connected by a junction box. The poles would be spaced 60 feet apart and approximately 20 poles would be needed to complete the run to the artwork. Avalon Bay and ACSPA would have to provide a temporary easement for the power poles and permission to tap into the transformer for power and have indicated they are amenable to these suggestions. The photos in Attachment 3 depict what the area would look like with the power poles installed. The cost to install the poles is $3,930 and a monthly charge for electrical power is $286. Therefore, the cost for temporary power for one-year would be $7,362 and has been accounted for in the project budget. If the Avalon Dublin Station II - Site C development has not commenced after the one-year period (spring 2012), the City Council could choose to continue to pay the monthly electrical fee of $286 per month and fund the cost through the Public Art Fund, until permanent electricity can be provided. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission take the following action: 1) Receive the presentation; 2) receive public comment; and 3) recommend artist Cliff Garten's concept design to the City Council for final approval. 3 of 3