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Home My WebLink About1/5/2005 - STAFF REPORTS (15) DATE: JANUARY 5, 2005 TO: CITY COUNCIL FROM: DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY& ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF PALM SPRINGS VISITORS CENTER CONCEPTUAL PLAN FOR TERRACED SEATING AREA AND LANDSCAPING TO ALLOW STAFF TO PROCEED WITH FINAL CONSTRUCTION PLANS AND THE BID PROCESS RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council review and approve the Palm Springs Visitors Center conceptual plan for terraced seating area and landscaping to allow staff to proceed with the final construction plans and bid process. SUMMARY: Due to previous budget constraints, a number of originally planned site improvements at the new Palm Springs Visitors Center were eliminated from the facility's previous remodeling project. Funds have now been secured to begin phasing in the construction of some of the desired improvements. The review and approval by the City Council of the Palm Springs Visitors Center conceptual plan for terraced seating area and landscaping at this time will allow staff to proceed with the final construction plans and bid process. BACKGROUND: The City of Palm Springs acquired the former Tramway Gas Station building located at 2901 N. Palm Canyon Drive in January 2003. Following a remodeling of the building's interior and the addition of a separate restroom facility and parking lot,the facility opened as the City's new Visitors Center in November of 2003. A numberof originally planned site improvements at the facility were eliminated from the previous remodeling project due to previous budget constraints. These included all landscaping, signage, outdoor seating areas, additional exterior lighting and pedestrian linkages to the City's entry sign located north of the building. Subsequently,the City Council appointed a subcommittee comprised of Mayor Oden and Councilmember Mills to work with Economic Development and Tourism staff to develop a master plan for future phased improvements at the site. A conceptual plan for an exterior terraced seating area and landscaping has been developed by Tom Doczi of TKD Associates. Approval of these two elements of the master plan are requested at this time so that construction drawings can be completed for the multi-purpose seating area, or amphitheater, to be located under the building's triangular roofline, along with landscaping adjacent to both the seating area and outside the curved perimeter wall of the site. The anticipated budget is approximately $35,000 to $40,000 with the seating area element to be funded by $20,000 in donations by the City's local Rotary Clubs. The balance, including the landscaping and associated site improvements such as irrigation and drainage lines, would be funded from the Visitors Center Account with monies recently deposited from an assessment district being formed in conjunction with the nearby Mountain Gate II development on the east side of Highway 111. Approval of the conceptual plan should allow for the construction of these elements to begun by February 2005 in conjunction with Rotary's Centennial celebrations. The Historic Site Preservation Board (HSPB) reviewed the conceptual plan for landscaping and exterior seating areas on October 12, 2004. The Design Review Committee(DRC)reviewed the plans on October 25, 2004. Based upon comments from the HSPB,a number of trees were eliminated to maintain views of the building's roofline from Highway 111 and the terraced seating area was moved slightlyfurther from the building's front doors to provide an appropriate separation from the roof's support posts. In addition, the color of the concrete for the seating area and its center "patio" feature was revised to be similar to, but not necessarily match, the grey sidewalk surrounding the building rather than trying to match the color of the decomposed granite on site. A separate discussion focused upon the conceptual design for signage for the building and a mock-up of the sign will be erected on site for several months to provide for additional feedback prior to pursuing a final approval for the design of the sign. Therefore, no approval is requested at this time for the design of the sign. During the DRC's discussion of the conceptual plan it was suggested that the terraced seating area be rotated 180 degrees so that visitors would face the building when seated and that the concrete seating area be replaced with a grassy berm. The Council subcommittee and design team had previously discussed this possibility at length and rejected it due to the desire to have the final design work with, rather than against, the slope of the site in this area and to provide an appropriate separation of activities between the day-to-day pedestrian traffic around the Visitors Center and the speaker programs anticipated for the terraced seating area. In addition, the notion of a permanent grassy seating area was rejected as highly impractical for day-to-day use. While a focal point element, such as a water, rock or landscaped feature is anticipated to be placed adjacent to the terraced seating area to help draw pedestrian traffic to the front door of the Visitors Center,the final design of that element has not been fully developed and will be excluded from the initial construction of the terraced seating area. The revised conceptual plan was approved by the Planning Commission on November 10, 2004 and reviewed again by the HSPB on December 14, 2004 at which time minor modifications were made to the scoring pattern of the terraced seating "patio" and a request was made that HSPB subcommittee members be consulted in the final placement of any landscape materials that might impact the view of the building's signature roofline from Highway 111. The review and approval by the City Co ncil of the Palm Springs Visitors Center conceptual plan for terraced seating are and landscaping at this time will allow staff to proceed witWthe al construction pl ns and bid process. YMON Dir for Commun' & Economic Development APPROVED: City Manager ATTACHMENTS: 1. Minute Order 2. 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KATHIE HART Acting City Clerk