How to Proceed With Pasadena Civic Center?

Pasadena City Hall (Photo – Pasadena Police Department).

It was an evening of legislative hopscotch Monday night, landing finally on the ongoing question of what direction to take as regards to the development of the Pasadena Civic Center.

By Garrett Rowlan

The task force report, given by Kevin Johnson, Senior Planner, was a laundry list of to do’s that seemed to leave the City Council with no firm idea on how to proceed.

Particularly urgent seemed to be the status of YMCA building, bought six years ago, and is the keystone development as regards the Civic Center project. What to do with the space? Preserve it, but how? A hotel? A place for city officials? In the latter case, would the expense of restoration save enough money to justify the conversion?

Financial consideration

Two things were evident. Financial considerations in a city plagued by monetary issues were paramount. The area can’t be converted into a “civic space” without an eye to its possible contributing to the city’s economic health.

Clock is ticking

Secondly, as several members of the Council reported, the clock was ticking. The YMCA building is currently a hovel for squatters despite boarding-up measures. The danger of a fire inadvertently or advertently set is an ongoing concern, as is the damage of a harsh winter, which last winter was not but that luck may not hold.

Groundhog Day and frustration

Still, as evidenced by an exchange between Mayor Tornek and Victor Gordo, inaction by the Council, fully aware of the historical and cultural significance of their pending decision, leads to frustration. The possibility of sending out yet another request for proposal yields only a sense of a process repeated, that Tornek characterized as “Groundhog Day,” referring to the Bill Murray movie of a character caught in the same day over and over.

In the end…

In the end, the Council delayed their decision until further information—financial considerations, and visual information—is presented to them.

That was item 26 on the agenda; earlier, council members approved item 27, in which impact fees for ADUs would be reduced;  earlier, they had approved item seven, the purchase of Ford transit vans from South Bay Ford; they also adopted the budget for fiscal year 2019.

The meeting ended around ten.

> Watch the entire Pasadena City Council meeting for Monday, June 18, 2018.