Proposed Big Blue Bus Yard Is Very Big

Council gives architects the go-ahead

Hannah Heineman
Mirror staff writer
  
   After little discussion, the Santa Monica City Council unanimously okayed the schematic design for the expansion of the Big Blue Bus yards last Tuesday.
   The plan, which included revisions requested by the Council in April, was designed by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum Architects.
   A three-story administration building with three levels of subterranean parking for employees and visitors will be located at Sixth Street and Colorado Avenue.
   Linked to it will be a single level maintenance facility that will span Seventh Street between Colorado Avenue and Olympic Boulevard. On-site parking for 235 buses is also included in the plan.
   The first phase of the project, a fuel and wash facility, was was completed in September 2001.
   The second phase has two parts. First, the existing SWASHLOCK facility, which houses lockers and washers for use by homeless people, located on the southwest corner of the site will be demolished and replaced by a new modular facility which will house both SWASHLOCK and the OPCC Access Center that is now in the 612 Colorado building. It and an existing administration building will also be torn down to make way for a new administration building.
   In the third phase, the bus maintenance structure will be constructed and the final phase will include the razing of the existing maintenance sheds and other site improvements.
   The project features a number of sustainable elements, such as a central plant and photovoltaic system for increased energy efficiency, an air distribution system beneath the floor permeable concrete and bioswale to reduce runoff, and the incorporation of recycled and recyclable materials.
   Phases two to four of the project will cost an estimated $80.4 million to be funded by “regional transportation funds [Proposition A & C, State Transit Assistance Funds, and Transportation Development Act Funds] allocated to the Big Blue Bus.”
   Council member Ken Genser summed up the Council’s consensus when he noted, “I think it’s coming along nicely since the last time we saw it.” He also suggested that the design undergo a preliminary review by the City’s Architectural Review Board “so there are no surprises down the line.”
   During the week of October 25, Big Blue will hold public community meetings to show its plans to the public.
   The Council will review the design development again in November or December, and the Arts Commission will see it in December. It will go to the Planning Commission January.
   The final design will be presented to Council in February or March of next year, at which time it is expected to award the construction contract.
   The City anticipates that the project will be completed in the fall of 2007.