Former train station site to be reborn as arts complex; Bergamot Station to house galleries, architectural firms.

More than 100 years ago, hordes of new arrivals to the City of Angels traveled the Pacific Electric Railway's "red car" trolley route between downtown L.A. an the beach. And many a traveler stepped on and off those trolleys at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica.

Now the site of that historic station is slated to be reborn as one of the largest arts complexes on the Westside.

Situated at 26th Street and Olympic Boulevard, the 5.5-acre site now contains a series of circa-1950s industrial buildings (the trolley station was demolished long ago). Those buildings, with a combined 235,000 square feet of space, are being redesigned to house 26 arty tenants -- ranging from art galleries to architectural firms to a Brazilian dance troupe.

The center has been dubbed Bergamot Station, after its historic predecessor. Th only other reminder of the old trolley station is a 1907 wooden caboose that ha been installed on the property to symbolize the property's former use.

"We wanted to create a synergism amongst people related to the arts," explained project founder Wayne Blank, who owns the contemporary Shoshana Wayne Gallery i Santa Monica.

The project site, purchased in 1989 from Southern Pacific Railroad by the City of Santa Monica, was to be used for purposes related to the light rail line the Metropolitan Transportation Authority hopes to eventually extend to the Westside.

But with MTA plans and financing still in flux, the arrival of light rail to Santa Monica is still just a goal, with no tangible deadlines in sight. So when water heater manufacturer American Appliance vacated the industrial buildings a Bergamot Station in 1993, the city began looking at interim uses for the property, explained Jeff Matthieu, director of resource management for the City of Santa Monica.

"We began to assess what possible uses would remain consistent with the zoning of the site, and we surveyed the marketplace to determine what businesses on th Westside would best suit the site," said Matthieu. "We determined art warehouse and storage and galleries would be a very good way to use the space."

That's when Wayne Blank came on the scene. Already known by Santa Monica city officials and artisans as an entrepreneurial arts advocate and gallery owner, Blank was approached by the city's resource management department to see what kind of plan he could propose within the confining parameters of interim use.

Blank's vision of a cultural destination utilizing the existing aesthetic appea of industrial structures with soaring ceilings, skylights and corrugated steel walls was compelling enough to convince the city to offer Blank the master leas on the property. The month-to-month lease agreement specifies a monthly gross rental rate of 35 cents per square foot, said Matthieu.

Blank, in turn, agreed to personally invest and develop the site with his limited partner, Tom Patchett, an art collector and television producer who wrote and co-created such shows as "The Bob Newhart Show" and "Alf." The two partners are subleasing space in the project for 75 cents a square foot, per month.

With project completion about a month away, Bergamot Station is already 90 percent subleased.

Although both Blank and Patchett refused to reveal how much they are investing to make the buildings fit for occupancy, Blank did say it is in excess of $500,000.

Patchett added, "I can't tell you how much. It would sound like an awful lot of money to most people, and I don't want anyone to think I'm more pretentious tha I already am. Basically, I just want to be a part of something great."

Conventional investors might question the sanity of anyone agreeing to make a major investment on a property being leased on a month-to-month basis. The MTA, which was the lender on the city's 1989 purchase of the property from Southern Pacific, could decide tomorrow to bring light rail to Santa Monica. In that case, Blank and Patchett's "interim use" would likely be nixed.

"From a purely business standpoint, I could understand how someone would be abl to say this isn't a good deal," said Patchett. "But you have to have enthusiasm and optimism, rather than just running the numbers. ... And since there's no money (for the light rail) yet, and no imminent plan (for the rail), this is a way for interim revenue for the city and (it) benefits those leasing the space.

At a rate of 75 cents a square foot, tenants, particularly galleries hard hit b the recession, can essentially cut their overhead in half, said Patchett.

Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Administrator Maria Luisa de Herrera said, "In general, the poor economic situation has impacted the arts badly. Galleries across the country and within our community are closing all the time. ... This is a great way to bring back a whole whiff of visual vitality to the city of Santa Monica, and it's an indirect way to help the arts. We're very aware that every dollar spent on the arts multiples to a $7 to $10 impact for the community."

In addition to the Shoshana Wayne Gallery and Patchett's Track 16 Gallery -- anchored by his collection of contemporary art and Americana, including vintage neon signs and Airstream trailers -- other gallery owners relocating to the sit include Burnett Miller, Pat Faure, Craig Krull, Patricia Correia, Peter Fetterman, Robert Berman and Ernie Wolfe III.

The Gallery of Functional Art is also relocating from its Main Street location to the Bergamot Station arts center. That gallery's owner, Lois Lambert, said, "I think this will be an incredible boon to the art business. There's a series of very different galleries that are so eclectic in nature. In the past, arts complexes have been very much the same. This will be a wonderful destination point, a wonderful way to spend the day."