NEW BUSINESS  4.

COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM

HISTORY:

The City and New World Symphony, Inc. (NWS) entered into an Agreement of Lease (Lease) dated as of January 5, 2004, as amended by that certain Memorandum of Lease and Possession Date Certificate, dated February 25, 2008, pursuant to which the City leased to NWS certain real property (the Land).  Concurrently therewith, the City and NWS entered into a Development Agreement, dated as of January 5, 2004, as amended by that certain First Addendum to Development Agreement, dated February 20, 2007, and Second Addendum to Development Agreement, dated as of July 9, 2009 (collectively, the Development Agreement) setting forth, among other things, the City’s and NWS’s respective responsibilities and agreement to coordinate and cooperate in the planning, scheduling and approval of the development, design and construction of: (i) a performance, educational and internet broadcast facility (the Building), together with certain related amenities, facilities and other infrastructure improvements, all on the Land; (ii) a public municipal parking garage to be designed, developed and constructed by NWS on the City’s behalf, and owned and operated by the City at its sole cost and expense on City-owned property adjacent to the land (the Garage); and (iii) a Park (the Park Project) owned by the City, to be located adjacent to the Land, bounded on the west by the Land, bounded on the north by 17^thStreet, bounded on the east by Washington Avenue, and bounded on the south by Lincoln Lane, and currently known as ”SoundScape Park”.  Pursuant to Section 6.2 of the Lease, on or about November 29, 2007, the City and NWS entered into a Video and Audio System Agreement (the Agreement) for the, operation, scheduling and content of the programming of the external video and audio systems. 

City staff met with representatives of NWS on February 7, 2017.  Following is a summary of the items discussed:

• NWS did not want a food and beverage concession operation in SoundScape Park.  They would prefer to look at engaging restaurants in the vicinity rather than adding another vendor and structure.
• NWS did not want restrooms in SoundScape Park. 
• NWS wanted to close the existing restroom building in SoundScape Park and convert it to a storage building.
• NWS wanted to close Lincoln Lane, making it pedestrian only, and to bring the road surface level with the SoundScape Park grade.
• NWS did not like the current plan for trees on Drexel Avenue.
• NWS requested approval to install additional speaker towers within SoundScape Park.
• NWS wanted to create additional viewing areas within SoundScape Park outside of the current viewing area of the WALLCAST (i.e., portable screens, permanent display, etc.).
• NWS suggested possible simulcasts and/or information pieces along Lincoln Road, using kiosks or other methods of transmission, in order to incorporate SoundScape Park and NWS along Lincoln Road to bring the three together.
• NWS requested the City consider installing public restroom stalls along public streets (similar to London, Spain, New York, etc.).

This information was subsequently presented at the March 1, 2017 Commission meeting.  The Commission voted in favor of not proceeding with the food and beverage concession and referring the remainder of the issues requested by NWS to the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee (NCAC).

At the May 19, 2017 NCAC meeting, NWS staff presented four recommendations for improved amenities that would create a higher level of user experience at SoundScape Park (Attachment 1).

These recommendations were as follows:

Restroom/Storage Facilities - Relocation or reimagining of restroom facilities to also include additional storage space in the existing facility or Pennsylvania Garage.

Retail Space/Bike Center- Creative use of retail space located in Pennsylvania Garage, possibly a Bike Center such as the facility located adjacent to Millennium Park, Chicago.

Lincoln Lane Closure and Leveling- Activate and create an exciting southern edge for park in coordination with James Corner Field Associates Lincoln Road Master Plan, including leveling Lincoln Lane Road South to create pedestrian and bike access only.

Audio and Video Systems- Expand listening and viewing areas to create outdoor “Living Rooms” and pop up video screens.

On May 19, 2017, the NCAC passed, by acclamation, a recommendation to have staff evaluate the cost impacts of improving the proposed amenities at SoundScape Park and subsequently send the evaluation to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC) for consideration.

On June 7, 2017, the Mayor and City Commission moved, by acclamation, to minimize impact of bathrooms and for staff to work out the cost of the concepts with NWS, and to refer the financial component to the FCWPC.

On August 4, 2017, staff from Tourism, Culture and Economic Development, Parks and Recreation and Capital Improvements Projects met with NWS staff to begin analyzing the costs of the proposed amenities. The following table summarized estimated costs for each of the suggested recommendations:

 *The proposal indicates the cost of the video systems would be the responsibility of NWS

City staff expressed concerns regarding the proposed amenities making use of the Pennsylvania Garage space, specifically the restroom facility and retail bike center. Relocating the restroom facilities to the Pennsylvania garage would create a distance and disconnect from SoundScape Park, potentially causing a security and accessibility issue. In addition, the City is currently in the process of securing a tenant for the ground floor retail space of the garage, which will be prime real estate with the opening of the Convention Center. By building restrooms in the lower level, parking spaces that are vital to a negotiating a lease agreement with a potential tenant would be lost.

Regarding the potential use of the Pennsylvania Garage retail space as a bike center, the Transportation Department explained that they would be installing 53 self-service, vertical bicycle parking racks in the 17^th Street parking garage.  There are 24 bicycle racks in the NE corner of the garage, and there will be 29 in the southwest corner of the garage.  Each vertical bicycle parking rack holds one bicycle.  Transportation will also be installing up to 5 u-racks at each of these two locations. In the future, a self-service bicycle repair station will be at each of these two locations.

On October 13, 2017, the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee made a recommendation for staff to continue working with the New World Symphony on solving the restroom issue that did not utilize the Penn garage space, look at Lincoln Lane closure, and do a budget amendment to re-appropriate $751,410 of $800,000 in previously budgeted funds for a restroom and concession facility for the audio and visual enhancement.

Funding for SoundScape Park Expansion and Improvements

Expansion of Audio and Video Systems (the Expansion Project)- $752,000

At the January 17, 2018 City Commission meeting, Resolution 2018-30158 was passed, adopting the second amendment to the capital budget for FY 2017/18 and approving the SoundScape Park concession and restroom project to exclude the restrooms and transfer that funding, in an amount of $751,410, to a project which would expand the listening area in SoundScape Park. Funding for this amendment would come from the transfer of Pay As You Go (Fund 302) dollars previously appropriated to SoundScape Park project, leaving a budget of $48,590 in this project.

On May 16, 2018, Resolution No. 2018-30300 was passed approving, in substantial form, Amendment No. 1 to the Video and Audio System Agreement, dated as of November 29, 2007, between the City and New World Symphony for the expansion of the video and audio system at SoundScape Park, with the City funding the expansion of the audio system, in an amount not to exceed $752,000, and NWS funding the expansion of the video system, at NWS sole cost and expense. (A draft of Amendment No. 1 to Agreement is included as Attachment 2)

SoundScape Park Improvements (Restrooms, Storage and 4K) - GO Bond Allocation - $4.5 M

In addition to the funding identified for the Expansion Project,  on November 6, 2018, the General Obligation Bond ("GO Bond") was approved by voters allocating $4.5M in improvements to SoundScape Park. The GO Bond funding for SoundScape Park includes the building of a permanent restroom facility to accommodate the high usage of the park, a storage facility and the upgrade of projectors, cameras, and servers to 4K ultra-high definition resolution. NWS has stated that the storage facility for the LED Video Walls will be funded through Amendment No. 1 to the Video and Audio System Agreement and will not be funded through GO Bonds.

ANALYSIS:

Location of Facilities Related to SoundScape Park Expansion and Improvements

In order to timely implement the audio component of the Expansion Project, both NWS and City staff have agreed the purchase of the audio equipment can proceed independently of the purchase of the LED Video Walls. NWS has submitted to City staff a detailed proposal, inclusive of budget and installation timeline for the audio equipment. However, in order to complete the video component of the Expansion Project and implement the SoundScape Park Improvements as funded by the GO Bond allocation, the location of the LED Video Wall storage facility and new restroom facility needs to be identified.

1. Permanent Storage Facility for LED Video Walls

As part of the scope of work referenced in Schedule B of the Agreement, NWS is purchasing two (2) portable LED modular screen video walls mounted on a portable device to accompany the expanded audio system. One screen measures 12’ high by 21’7” wide and the other 7’ high by 12’5” wide. As indicated by NWS, the LED screen video walls should be stored in a climate controlled facility in close proximity to the park to ensure ease of accessibility for WALLCAST events, which average 10-13 events per season. Currently, NWS does not have an existing storage facility to accommodate the screens and has not been able to proceed with the purchase of the LED screen video walls. NWS has stated that off site storage is not practical due to the size and frequency of anticipated use of the LED video walls.

NWS has again proposed the Pennsylvania Avenue Garage ground floor parking as a potential area for storage of the LED Video Walls. The location would allow the screens to be accessed through the loading dock area of NWS and would require the permanent use of 3-4 parking spaces that accompany the ground floor retail space. (Attachment 3)

Consistent with prior Committee recommendations, City staff has concerns with the use of the Pennsylvania Avenue Garage. The construction of the storage facility would use one (1) of two (2) ADA compliant parking spaces and three (3) of eight (8) regular parking spaces. Staff recommends the City retain all available parking space in order to facilitate leasing of the retail space, which consists of 8,000 square feet. Retaining the parking spaces provides a ratio of 1 space per 1,000 square feet for retail tenants. This retail space will become valuable with the opening of the Convention Center hotel and ill provide an important linkage to Lincoln Road.

2. New Restroom Facilities

The existing restroom facilities at SoundScape Park, which also include a portable unit adjacent to the permanent restrooms, are not able to accommodate the increased number of attendees in SoundScape Park. NWS has indicated to City staff that the new, larger restroom facilities should not be located within SoundScape Park. As such, NWS has suggested converting the existing restroom facility into a storage area for SoundScape Park. Although the footprint of the restroom facility is not large enough to accommodate the two LED Video Walls, it could be used for storage of maintenance equipment, trash receptacles and other items necessary for WALLCAST events.

NWS has suggested building permanent, larger restroom facilities adjacent to the proposed LED Video Wall storage in Pennsylvania Garage, as detailed in Attachment 3. The restrooms would remain open when events are taking place in SoundScape Park but would not be accessible to the public 24/7. However,  FCWPC Committee and the City Commission have expressed concern over the distance required to reach the restrooms from the park to the garage, potentially causing a security and accessibility issue, and also the potential impact of losing additional parking spaces in the back-of house area for the retail space, thus impacting the potential lease of this area.

On December 3, 2018 NWS met with City staff to further discuss possible locations. A recommendation was made to contract a Facility Master Planning expert to further explore the entire campus of New World Symphony and to determine the most strategic integration of permanent restroom and storage facilities. The proposed scope of the study is attached (Attachment 4).  It is estimated that this could be funded from available funds in the original project budget.

CONCLUSION:

The Administration to discuss and seek direction on the hiring of a Facility Master Planning expert to determine the most efficient and feasible location of the restrooms and storage with the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee.