SANTA ANA : Funds Set Aside for Studio Conversions

In a move that brings the city’s vision of a downtown artists village closer to reality, the City Council has set aside money to buy two historic downtown buildings that would be converted into studios where artists can live and work.

Earlier this week, the council approved the use of $1.5 million in redevelopment money to buy the Grand Central Building and earmarked $2 million to rehabilitate it.

The city is now reviewing a proposal by Cal State Fullerton to turn the building into art studios for graduate students, exhibition space and an annex for the university’s extended education program.

The council also set aside $300,000 to purchase the historic Southern Counties Gas Company building--also known as the Old Handlebar Saloon--along with $500,000 for renovations, city officials said.

Artists and city officials envision the artists village reviving downtown while providing much needed live-in studio space to emerging artists.

“There’s an incredible amount of enthusiasm. It seems like it’s really coming together,” said Susan Helper, downtown project manager for the city’s Community Development Agency.

Helper said her agency must now negotiate the purchase of the buildings and review Cal State Fullerton’s proposal to renovate the Grand Central Building, built in 1924 and operated for years as the Grand Central market.

Plans for the artists village--which would revolve around downtown’s largely abandoned 2nd Street pedestrian walkway--germinated years ago in the arts community.

Over the past year, neighborhood groups, local businesses, the City Council and a core of artists have come together to develop a vision for the area.

City staff, along with ceramic artist Randy Au, are organizing tours of the area for interested artists on the first and third Fridays of every month, Helper said, and two groups of artists already have been taken on the “Art Walk” tours of the area.

Artist Jeffrey Frisch became the first artist to pioneer the village when he moved into the Empire Market Building on Broadway last month.

The Planning Commission is expected to change the area’s zoning at its Monday meeting to allow artists to live in the space.

The owner of the building is interested in converting the building into a live-work space and renting to artists, Helper said.

“It’s kind of energizing, because people see it’s really happening,” said Frisch, director of the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, an artists collective that has purchased a downtown building with city help and plans to begin renovations soon.