HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/20/2021 Item 10, Standish
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Leann <
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Cc:Kevin Harris; <mjenkins@slocm.org>; Thomas Kessler; Bettina Swigger;
john@johnashbaugh.
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Attachments:Cultural District Partners - Council Letter April 2021.docx
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Respectfully submitted
Leann Standish
Executive Director
W: (805) 543-8562
C: (612) 940-6792
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April 16, 2021
Dear Council Members:
Thank you for including arts and culture in the Major City Goal framework for the 2021-2023 Budget.
Arts and culture play a significant role in the local economy and supporting our arts and cultural
organizations will be essential to the economic recovery for our City.
For many years there has been talk of a Cultural District in the Downtown. This “district” has been
included in the City’s General Plan and, most recently, in the Downtown Concept Plan, adopted by
Council in 2017.
We present this letter to inform you of the recent formation of a group of partners representing
the anchors of the City’s downtown cultural district. The Cultural District Partners, including
the Children’s Museum, San Luis Obispo Repertory Theatre, the History Center, and the San Luis Obispo
Museum of Art seek to work closely with the City in realizing its major
goals of economic recovery, resiliency and fiscal sustainability.
Specifically, this group was organized in an effort to demonstrate support and urgency in the realization of
the parking
structure planned for the corner of Palm and Nipomo Streets and directly associated with SLO REP’s
new facility.
Additionally, this group will continue working together to seek state and federal funding for
Cultural District initiatives and will focus on using our unique missions to address additional
City goals such as diversity, equity and inclusion. We understand that one of the action items to
emerge from the City’s recent DEI Task Force was the creation of a Multicultural Center, and we
would like to invite proponents of this effort to join our group as well.
Finally, as the Council considers staff recommendations for strategic budget direction and major
city goals, especially in regards to plans for Mission Plaza and the Cultural District, we strongly
encourage you: a) to continue to make the new parking structure a high priority for downtown and b)
to consider renaming the structure the “Cultural District Parking Structure.” This will recognize
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the downtown area the structure will serve and, we believe, aid the City in gaining support for the
project and for the fee increases needed to fund it. And honestly it's just a better and more
memorable name than “Palm/Nipomo.”
Thank you for your time and consideration and for your dedication to our beautiful city. We look
forward to working with you to create a vibrant, diverse, culturally significant, and economically
important center for arts and culture in San Luis Obispo.
With respect and gratitude,
Leann Standish, Executive Director, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art
Bettina Swigger, CEO, Downtown SLO
John Ashbaugh, President, Board of Directors, History Center of San Luis Obispo County
Thomas Kessler, Executive Director, History Center of San Luis Obispo County
Michelle Jenkins, Executive Director, San Luis Obispo Children's Museum
Kevin Harris, Managing Artistic Director, San Luis Obispo Repertory Theatre
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