Plan to turn Guild theater into live entertainment venue advances
A multimillion-dollar plan to refurbish and expand the ailing Guild theater in downtown Menlo Park to host live performances passed a key hurdle this week.
The Planning Commission on Monday unanimously recommended that the City Council approve the project. Commissioner Susan Goodhue was absent.
The nonprofit Peninsula Arts Guild and Judy Adams, a city resident who has spearheaded a Save the Guild movement, warned commissioners that the theater likely would close if the project isn’t approved.
The nonprofit is planning to host up to three live evening performances each week between Friday and Sunday, with the option to occasionally host performances on week nights if that is the only time it can book a well-known performer.
“You’re not going to pass up Taylor Swift because you can only get her on a Tuesday,” said Peninsula Arts Guild co-founder Drew Dunlevie.
While the building footprint isn’t increasing, the project would push the current 4,200-square-foot theater to 10,854 square feet by adding a 14-footdeep basement and a second floor. Although all projects that add square footage are required to provide parking spaces, the commission granted the nonprofit an exception because it doesn’t have any room for it.
Under the $15 million to $20 million plan, the first floor would contain a lobby, a main viewing and seating area, bar, stage and restrooms. The second floor would provide viewing areas, a bar and a vestibule. The basement,not open to the public, would provide dressing rooms with showers for performers, a warming kitchen and storage space.
Peninsula Arts Guild said basement amenities would help it attract top-name performers living aboard buses who otherwise would shuttle through the Peninsula en route to perform in San Francisco or Oakland.
The council is set to discuss the project and possibly give preliminary approval at its May 22 meeting and final approval June 5. The project has been put on a fast track because Peninsula Arts Guild said it may pull out if things drag.
While many community members support a rebuilt Guild, owners of businesses near the theater shared concerns at the meeting about parking, construction impacts and a lack of communication from Peninsula Arts Guild.
Jeffrey Son, who owns the new Octopus Japanese restaurant two doors away, said he’s worried about losing clients during construction to four other nearby Japanese restaurants; Alex Delly, owner of Menlo Clock Works next door, said no one had yet contacted him about the project; and Eugene Perez of Menlo Flooring said he’s concerned about construction impacts and competition for parking spaces.
“Where are they going to house construction equipment, because it’s a very tight space?” Perez said. “We already have a lot of times … where our clients can’t park because of a Guild movie playing.”
In its evaluation, CHS Consulting Group determined that adequate parking is available within a quarter-mile of the theater during Peninsula Arts Guild events attended by as many as 550 people between 7 and 11 p.m. CHS said those events would create a demand of up to 271 parking spaces and found 291 unused spaces on a recent Friday evening and 556 on a Saturday evening.
The commission recommended that the council require Peninsula Arts Guild to develop a parking plan for its anticipated 23 employees, that the project be deed-restricted and that all community groups be given equal access to the theater. To offset the parking exemption, Peninsula Art Guild would give a 50 percent discount twice a month to community groups renting the space when it’s not being used.