Study on Greystone Stirs More Debate : Beverly Hills: A report urges a conference center at the mansion. Others suggest a museum. Some people want neither.

Another study. Another debate. Another date for Greystone.

After 10 years of struggling over what to do with one of the most lavish estates ever built in California, the city of Beverly Hills this week began to review a course outlined in a new study, which suggests splitting the colossal mansion into a multiple-use facility.

But rather than generate new enthusiasm for Greystone’s future, the report served to conjure up the ghosts that have shadowed its past. Local preservationists and nearby residents criticized the study, saying that the recommended uses would generate too much traffic, not enough money and few cultural benefits.

After listening to a presentation Tuesday night of the initial phase of the $40,000 study by consultant Pannell Kerr Forster, which recommends a combination corporate conference center and banquet-wedding facility at the famed Tudor mansion, Greystone Foundation officials again suggested that the city turn it into a museum.

But for each idea, there was at least one countering view.

“In my estimation, the majority of the residents of Trousdale Estates don’t favor a museum,” said Alan E. Berlin, president of the 535-member Trousdale Homeowners Assn., the group that represents the neighborhood around Greystone. “But I’m not sure that they would favor a corporate center there either.”

Berlin suggested selling the property to a private developer, who could either renovate the mansion or subdivide the property.

After more than 90 minutes of debate, the council said it would consider moving on to the next phase of the study at its Sept. 4 meeting.

“What I sadly recognize about Greystone is that as attractive as a single use as for a museum would be in concept, it’s probably not doable,” said Vice Mayor Vicki Reynolds. “I’m afraid a single-purpose use has passed us up.”

The city bought Greystone in 1965 with the intention of preserving it. But for the past 10 years, the sprawling mansion has sat empty while the city has struggled to find the best, yet least intrusive, use for it.

Completed in 1928 at the then-staggering cost of $3 million, Greystone was built for Edward Laurence (Ned) Doheny, son of the first man to strike it rich in Los Angeles oil. The 55-room, 46,000-square-foot mansion was built of three-foot-thick concrete walls, covered in stone and roofed with imported Welsh slate.

But while everyone attests to its magnificence, few can agree on what to do with it.

Negotiations to lease it for use as a Westside branch of the County Museum of Natural History collapsed last year after the city decided it would have to give up too much control over Greystone. Beverly Hills officials say that museum curators want at least a 35-year lease for the property and to expand its activities, while the city wants to reduce the impact on nearby residential neighborhoods.

Other plans, such as using it as a research center or private club, have also died.

However, the new consultant says the city can meet all of its cultural, historical and economic objectives by transforming Greystone into a corporate meeting center and special events hall for private parties.

According to Steven Hudson, an official with Pannell Kerr Forster, the multiple-use designation would raise enough money to pay for Greystone’s renovation costs and not bother residents in the neighboring estates. Hudson said several city hotels have expressed interest in using the facility as an executive conference center.

“We feel that with the combination of events, the city should find an excellent blend of cultural uses,” Hudson told the council.

According to the first part of the three-phase study, the multiple-use designation will generate about $3.8 million in revenues each year, netting the city $1.1 million in profits. The income would allow Beverly Hills to upgrade the estate to its original grandeur, Hudson said.

However, Rudy Cole, vice president of the Greystone Foundation, said the report was inadequate because it failed to address the feasibility of using Greystone as a museum. Cole urged the council to hire another consultant to study the issue, saying that “Greystone is a resource that needs to be turned back to the community. . . . and I think this community wants a museum.”

However, a majority of the council members balked at the suggestion, saying that the city has already grappled with the potential museum proposal and found it lacking. They indicated that they favored further study on a multiple-use facility for Greystone.

“It’s time to resolve the issue of Greystone,” said Mayor Allan Alexander.