January 28, 2025
Honorable Mayor Negrete, Mayor Pro Tem Torosis, and Council Members,
Save the Civic was formed around one simple idea: publicly owned venues for music and the arts are rare and important and should not be sold off or used for other purposes.
That idea resonated in our community beyond our wildest hopes.
Luminaries like Beach Boy founder Brian Wilson, Door’s drummer John Densmore, Crossroads and New Roads founder Paul Cummins, joined hundreds of Santa Monica residents and business owners to save this precious resource and restore it as a world-class venue; a beacon that would turn downtown into a vital cultural destination.
Finding a credible entity suited to both restoring this historic site, as well as running it as a first-class arena, seemed like an impossible task.
But we did it. The perfect team stepped forward, made up of local entrepreneurs who saw this as a business opportunity as well as a chance to restore something that was so influential in their own lives. We know RPG is the right team because they have a financial AND emotional attachment to this project.
When our City Council voted unanimously to begin negotiations with them, it was a huge win for Santa Monicans. It was also a win for the City, as a world-class Civic would be a huge economic multiplier, revitalizing Main Street and the entire downtown, providing much needed tax revenue.
We urge you not to take that win away from us.
Two key players on the RPG team lost their homes in the Palisades fire. Another team member is leading FireAid, the massive concert/fundraising event for fire victims. This has made extending negotiations a necessity.
At a time when residents feel demoralized, both from local disasters and rapid, dramatic changes at the federal level, Santa Monicans could desperately use some good news. We’re so close to being able to give it to them; building something in our city that will make this generation, and future generations, proud.
In time, a restored Civic will be as iconic to Santa Monica as our pier.
We hope you will help make that happen.
Sincerely,
The Save the Civic Steering Committee
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