By Khalida Sarwari
A nearly $2 million renovation project is underway at the Montalvo Arts Center to transform the lawn, garden plots and parking lots on the west side of the property.
Montalvo embarked on construction earlier this month after nearly two years of planning the ambitious project, which aims to increase accessibility and expand the facility’s capacity for events and exhibitions. The goal is to offer visitors an improved experience, said Montalvo’s executive director Angela McConnell.
“It’s really going to have a profound impact on our artistic programs and on our visitors’ experience,” said McConnell. “As soon as we started talking about the need for this west lawn and grand entry renovation project, everyone had the same word, and that word is ‘transformational.’ “
The large-scale construction project aims to completely transform the second parking lot and the lawn area west of the villa to improve traffic and pedestrian flow especially during the bigger events hosted at the site. According to Leah Ammon, a spokeswoman for Montalvo, the parking lot was configured decades ago and hasn’t been updated since.
The parking lot will be remodeled to create a wide circular drive leading cars to the villa’s new entrance at the recently refurbished 16th-century Spanish doors. Those doors are original elements of the villa’s design and date back to when it was built in 1912 by James Phelan, a former San Francisco mayor and U.S. senator. Visitors might be pleased to learn the entry will be protected by a glass portico as a shield against inclement weather.
The work doesn’t end there. Above the lot where there is currently a sloped lawn, a new terraced garden will be installed to serve as an event space for weddings and private events as well as a spot for outdoor art installations. The space will be suitable, said McConnell, for lighting installations or sculptures.
The new terrace is expected to boast an open, flat layout with drought-resistant plantings that will be irrigated by a state-of-the-art irrigation system. The space will be accessible by a new ADA-compliant ramp and expanded staircase to better accommodate crowds during concerts and festivals.
“I think it’s really going to give us an opportunity to have a new place for our very diverse patrons and concert-goers and students and all the folks that come and visit,” McConnell said.
The project is slated to be completed by the end of May.
Private donors have stepped up to fund most of the project, which is estimated to cost $1.8 million after the Hind Foundation offered Montalvo an initial challenge grant. Hind is a San Luis Obispo-based organization that provides funding for community-based projects and programs.
To raise the rest of the funding, Montalvo is offering naming opportunities around the garden and gathering spaces. For more information, contact Meghan Heath, Montalvo’s director of major gifts, at 408.961.5806 or mheath@montalvoarts.org.
