October 13, 2023
Dear Mayor Gleam Davis,
We, the members of The Wilshire-Montana Coalition, are writing to let you know we support returning the publicly-owned Civic to its original purpose as a legendary arts and cultural venue. We believe other entities that have experience developing and operating world-class concert venues can now come forward and restore the Civic as a premier destination for music and the arts. We support Save the Civic and its mission to preserve publicly owned spaces for music and the arts which can also generate tax revenue for the city. The Civic is a rare and important cultural venue; it should not be sold off to be used for other purposes.
We support Save the Civic’s initiatives to:
1) Discourage the City Council from entering into any agreement with an entity that will not guarantee the Civic’s landmark status and/or relegates its use to primarily servicing a limited segment of Santa Monica’s population, with only occasional public use.
2) Find potential entities to operate the Civic and encourage the City to partner with them to protect, invest in, and maintain the Civic for its valued purpose as a world-class public venue for the performing, musical and visual arts.
Thank you for all your efforts toward the well-being of Santa Monica,
Sincerely,
The Board of Wilmont.org