Phase 3B of the Santa Monica Airport Conversion Project has kicked off with the release of a draft Framework Diagram which synthesizes years of outreach into a draft site structure. 

This draft divides the great park into 8 districts — Immersive Nature, Active Sports, Arts & Culture, Urban Edge, The Stroll, The Lawn, The Meadow and The Heart. During the City’s presentation, planners described the west side of the park as a “calmer neighborhood character” and the eastside as a “more active, regional character”. This west-east split is one of various attempts to balance the different expectations for the property — quieter ecological space on one side, more intensive recreation and activity on the other.

On the west side, the proposed Immersive Nature district centers native habitat, biodiversity and slower-moving open space. Nearby, the Meadow is framed as a gathering landscape that includes adventure play, outdoor space for classroom, water features and neighborhood-scale activity.

At the center of the site, the city is reserving space for major public gatherings. Example uses include flexible lawns and plazas for community events, outdoor movie screenings, airport interpretive features, sculpture walk elements and pop-up food stalls. The Heart, is presented as a civic core with example uses including a recreation center, community or cultural center, café, food hall or food truck space, indoor sports venue, interactive installations and a non-aviation transit center.

The east side of the draft is characterized as an area concentrated for more active recreation and cultural programming.The Active Sports district includes examples of multi-use fields, aquatics, basketball, tennis, pickleball, baseball or softball diamonds, volleyball, skate facilities and bike-oriented amenities. The Arts & Culture district is organized around food, performance and creative expression, with possible uses including galleries, community theater, local artist studios, museum space, event space, craft classrooms, café and restaurant uses, food hall or food truck space and small-business incubator concepts.

The Urban Edge district is built around adaptive reuse of existing structures and includes concepts such as a youth center, senior center, daycare, library, education uses, community or cultural center space, market uses and pop-up food space. The Urban Edge district is one of a few examples that shows the city’s effort to stay within the constraints of Measure LC.

For now, the city is asking residents to provide feedback on the draft Framework Diagram through an online survey that is open through April 26. Additionally, the framework is being taken through Santa Monica boards and commissions as well as Venice and Mar Vista neighborhood councils.

Looking ahead, the next obstacle for this project is the expected debates centered on various difficult questions — how much land should go to sports, how much should remain ecological, how existing structures should be reused and how Santa Monica expects to fund, phase and sustain a park of this scale?