Design Consultant Chosen for Library

• City Council Approves $98,000 Contract

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council this week approved a contract for a design firm to develop the first phase of remodeling plans for the Malibu Library.
LPA, of Irvine, a design firm that has extensive experience designing over 20 libraries, was tapped by the council.
Richard D’Amato, an architect and LPA principal, gave a presentation, talking about the firm and its background, and offered some preliminary ideas for the local library.
He said every library needs a hero and a story to tell and suggested maybe the Rindge family or Frederick Hastings Rindge might be the focus for the library.
However, council members were quick to dissuade D’Amato of such an idea, telling him the Rindges ran everybody off the Malibu and gated the ranch to keep the public out, calling them trespassers. “The Rindge family didn’t want anybody here,” said Councilmember Sharon Barovsky, who was the first to scoff at the idea. “They were kind of elitists, they kept the public out”
Councilmember Jefferson Wagner initially came to their defense. “They kept the railroad out and they did not carry guns [only the hired help did],” he said, but then added. “They did keep a federal magistrate out.”
Barovsky countered that she saw pictures of May Rindge packing heat. “May did carry a gun,” said added, asking why not have the consultant look into dolphins as Malibu’s heroes.
Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich, who has spearheaded efforts to find money for the library and recommended improvements for the aging facility, endorsed the suggestion about the dolphins and told the consultant since Malibu made dolphins honorary citizens it should be something to consider.
Watching the meeting tape, Malibu Surfside News editor Anne Soble wondered why no one suggested Malibu’s first fully documented residents, the Chumash.
D’Amato then shifted gears and talked about using Legacy Park as the focus of the library and its story. Others, who spoke during public comment, enthusiastically talked about creating an entrance to the library in front of the park and using it as the interior repository for information and educational purposes on Legacy Park.
The head of the county library system Margaret Donnellan Todd told council members she was very excited by the choice of LPA after she talked to several clients in different library systems who praised the firm for being able to listen to the community and to reflect their wishes.
Conley Ulich said she wants the library to become what she called a library of the 21st Century.
Of the 42 proposals, a panel of raters consisting of the city’s library consultant, a representative from the Los Angeles County Library, and representatives from the cities of Malibu, Agoura Hills and Calabasas recommended LPA, for the contract, according to city officials.
The rating panel indicated they felt LPA would be “extremely compatible” with the city and the project.
LPA’s experience includes the design of over twenty public libraries and has designed more LEED accredited buildings in California than any other architectural firm, according to a municipal staff report.
Last year, the city and county executed a memo of understanding that identified the use of $3.6 million of what are called set-aside funds for improvements to the Malibu Library. The MOU offers vehicles for the city and county to work together in improving the interior and exterior of the building.
The library was built by the county in 1970 and is located on county-owned Civic Center property.