Call to Action to Alumni and Friends! Preserve Bergamot Station Arts Center

Please sign the petition now:

Save Bergamot Station Arts Center from Overdevelopment at change.org

Petition to Preserve Bergamot Station

If you’ve participated in Writers Boot Camp screenwriting coursework in LA, visited our national headquarters or attended events in our space, or simply support the arts, then you’re familiar with the unique character and importance of our Santa Monica home, Bergamot Station.

As a tenant for 16 years so far at Bergamot Station, Writers Boot Camp has been blessed to be part of a dynamic community of fine art galleries and cultural neighbors, and we encourage you to support its preservation. (BTW, Writers Boot Camp is thriving and will celebrate our official 25th anniversary this fall. This communique is about the future of Bergamot Station specifically, and the impending City Council vote, which may impact our ability and the galleries’ possibility of continuing to reside here collectively as an irreplaceable gem of Santa Monica.)

The Bergamot Station Gallery Cultural Association (BSGCA) is reaching out to the arts community and the public to inform you of the imminent destruction of Bergamot Station Arts Center should the city of Santa Monica proceed with its current development plans. Dozens of business owners, hundreds of employees, and an endless number of artists and their families as well as the Santa Monica arts community at large, are in serious jeopardy.

We need your support in an effort to save Bergamot Station from overdevelopment. We do not want another Grove or Shopping Mall to replace this unique and historic complex, which has thrived against all odds for over 20 years as well as providing exceptional arts programming and community service. All three development teams under consideration for the contract with the City of Santa Monica propose a massive overhaul to the property which will result in the disruption and closure of many of our businesses.

Current development proposals threaten to:

• DECREASE THE NUMBER OF ART GALLERIES

• ADD RETAIL SPACE

• ADD CREATIVE OFFICES

• ADD A HOTEL

• ADD BARS AND RESTAURANTS

• ADD UNDERGROUND PARKING, WHICH WILL DESTROY BUSINESSES ONSITE AND WILL NOT ACCOMMODATE THE NUMBER OF TENANTS WHO WILL BE ADDED TO THE SITE

We, as over 40 art galleries and cultural businesses, respectfully cannot support the City’s plan which threatens the heart and soul of Bergamot Station as we know it.

We ask our patrons, associates, friends, artists, and supporters to help us preserve our businesses and our beloved community of galleries and arts related businesses by signing a petition to request that the City of Santa Monica Officials cease plans for redevelopment until the survival of the core tenants of Bergamot Station is ensured.

Please sign the petition by Friday, June 13th before the Santa Monica City Council votes on this issue in the next few weeks. Post a comment as to why the preservation of Bergamot Station is important to you, share the petition with your friends, and contact council members and let them know you support our cause.

Feel free to post your specific comments or Bergamot Station experiences.

There’s no obligation to post a comment, though we encourage Writers Boot Camp writers, filmmakers/visual artists, alumni and friends to make note of your appreciation or feelings about Bergamot Station.

Thank you for your support!

JG

Jeffrey Gordon

Writers Boot Camp Founder