The city of Santa Maria is budgeting a study to determine whether a new large-scale convention hall in town would be economically viable.
Thanks to unanimous approval from the Santa Maria City Council during its Feb. 21 meeting, the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce has permission to spend up to $94,250 in consulting fees and other expenses to complete the feasibility study—originally proposed by a local orchestra.
The Santa Maria Philharmonic Society pitched the potential convention center as a way to not only provide a suitable venue for its own performances, but offer space to local and visiting theater groups, and businesses of all kinds to hold various events and conferences.
“We’ve long dreamed of a permanent home for the orchestra,” Philharmonic Society Executive Director Fran Saveriano told the City Council on Feb. 21.
The orchestra frequently performs at Grace Baptist Church in Santa Maria and other churches in the area.
“We don’t have a suitable venue, and even the ones that we play in that are suitable, we have a problem with availability with those, so it’s an ongoing issue,” Saveriano said. “We’re very pleased with the prospect of doing the feasibility study and moving forward because we feel it will be a great thing for the community; it will fuel economic growth, encourage new business and visitors, and position Santa Maria as a business and arts destination for Northern Santa Barbara County.”
The proposed space is envisioned as a dual-use facility, according to the city’s staff report, with a main performance hall—designed to seat between 800 and 1,200 attendees—that could also be used for large business conferences, and space for exhibitions, demonstrations, workshops, and other events.
“There is a need generally from an economic development and tourism perspective to increase the city of Santa Maria’s competitiveness within the region and within the state of California,” said Assistant City Manager Andrew Hackleman, who added that the feasibility study for a performing arts facility would align with one of the City Council’s 2022-24 budget goals to provide more recreation opportunities for families.
Before the City Council voted to fund the study, Councilmember Gloria Soto questioned one aspect of the proposal’s community outreach component, in regard to the chamber’s assigned duty “to ensure that appropriate stakeholders are engaged throughout the research and analysis process,” as listed in the staff report.
“How will the city also partake in promoting those engagement interviews and making sure that we have ample representation from all walks of life in those interviews or those stakeholder meetings?” Soto asked staff during the Feb. 21 meeting.
Hackleman said that the chamber would be leveraged “to ensure that we get all of those inputs, as we would for any type of city activity.”
Glenn Morris, CEO of the chamber, said that if the study moved forward, the chamber would organize a steering committee to include representatives of the city, local businesses, and the arts community.
After Councilmember Carlos Escobedo made a motion to green-light the study, it passed in a 5-0 vote.
This article appears in Mar 2-9, 2023.