Art Center to Stay in Pasadena

The trustees of the Art Center College of Design on Friday rejected an offer to relocate their school to downtown Los Angeles and instead will expand their operations in Pasadena.

Art Center’s decision is a setback for Los Angeles civic leaders who have wooed the school for nearly a year as part of an effort to revive the city’s downtown.

Art Center, whose graduates are leaders in automotive and other commercial design fields, would have been part of a growing cluster of educational and cultural institutions that have relocated or expanded downtown in recent years.

“Art Center is what you’d call one of your Tiffany-type of institutions,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “It’s very unique and has an outstanding reputation in the design community. This is a feather in [Pasadena’s] cap.”

The 14-member Board of Trustees voted unanimously to expand the existing facilities on the school’s 175-acre hillside campus near the Rose Bowl and to build a Frank Gehry-designed satellite facility in a more urban part of Pasadena. Several sites are under consideration, including the properties owned by Ambassador College near Old Pasadena, said Art Center spokeswoman Jan Kingaard.

“The decision to stay in Pasadena best reflects where our future lies with our ever-evolving educational strategies,” Art Center President Richard Koshalek said in a statement. “Pasadena truly embraces the region’s unique convergence of innovation, diversity and industry.”

Both cities waged a lengthy campaign to woo Art Center and offered the campus prime real estate and incentives. Los Angeles officials at one point had offered it a prime spot atop Bunker Hill across from the Los Angeles Music Center.

But officials later withdrew the site from consideration after the property’s owner, the county of Los Angeles, said it had not been consulted and had other plans for the parcel.

Los Angeles’ final offer included three other Bunker Hill sites owned by the Community Redevelopment Agency, according to Art Center officials.

Pasadena’s proposal included street and traffic improvements, assistance in cutting the cost of purchasing land, grants and expedited zoning and environmental reviews. The cost to taxpayers couldn’t immediately be determined.

“Art Center is a treasure in Pasadena that translates into a significant benefit to our worldwide image,” said Pasadena City Manager Cynthia J. Kurtz.

Los Angeles officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

Art Center, which has 1,500 students and staff, was founded nearly 70 years ago in downtown Los Angeles by an advertising art director. The school later moved to Hancock Park and then to its existing campus in 1976.