Cerritos Council Defines New Design for Convenience Gas Station as Art Piece

By Jerry Bernstein

The Cerritos City Council approved a Planning Commission recommendation for construction of a new convenience service station located on the northwest corner of Bloomfield Avenue and Artesia Boulevard, and in a 3-2 vote defined the building’s architecture as artwork.
The architectural design of the building will be a contemporary glass structure designed to replicate cascading water.
The property owner, Jeff Appel of United El Segundo, Inc. said he wants to demolish the existing Chevron service station building and two pump islands and canopies in order to construct a new convenience service station building with one island and canopy.
Cerritos Current Planning Manager Jamie Hamilton said, “Due to the location of the site at the entrance to the Cerritos Towne Center and gateway to the city, United El Segundo, Inc. chose their station as the site to create a one-of-a-kind building. She said many structural engineers and glass specialists have been consulted in order to create the unique glass design feature on the front elevation of the building In addition the building will be “as green as possible” and incorporate a see-through solar panel roof which will serve as the pump island canopy.
She said the solar panel roof will provide dappled light shading over the pump islands and is expected to provide the power needed to operate the station. She added, landscaping will be comprised of drought tolerant and California native plantings to further add another “green” element to the project.
Defining Artwork
Assistant City Manager Kathy Matsumoto said the project is subject to the Art of Public Placement Program, which requires the property owner to provide at least one percent of the building permit valuation or provide an art piece of the same value. She said the property owner is requesting that because of the unique architecture of the building it be considered as the art piece required under the Art of Public Placement Program.
Under the city ordinance, architecture can be considered art work if it is created as a collaborative effort with an artist with the artist doing a majority of the work, has major design control of the portions of the architecture to be considered art, and has experience and knowledge of monumental scale sculpture. Both the Planning Commission and Fine Arts and Historical Commission approved the project defining the building’s architecture as art.
Matsumoto said Appel had retained architect Kevin Oreck to design the building, which will be triangular in shape. She said the front elevation of the new building would be constructed of translucent glass that will be separated into strips set at varied angles in a design reminiscent of cascading water.
In keeping with the design concept, a shallow reflecting pool is proposed at the base of the wall. The other two sides of the building have been designed with masonry block with decorative exposed aggregate finish.
Matsumoto said the proposed pump island and canopy would have six gasoline dispensing pumps with the island’s canopy roof design to complement the building. It will also have solar panels, which are expected to provide most of the electrical power needed to run the entire facility. In addition new underground tanks will replace existing ones due to the new site configuration.
Mayor Bruce Barrows questioned whether the building could be viewed as an art piece as defined under the city code. Matsumoto said the building’s architect is the artist. Barrows answered, “This is a new definition we never had before. It’s not in our code either.” He said under the Arts in Place Program an architect shall be recognized by the art world in shows or other occasions. “This has never been done before in Cerritos except for the dome on top of the recently completed office building in the Towne Center.
Matsumoto agreed but noted an art piece was placed on top of the dome. She explained the commissions defined the building as an art piece because of its unique design and glasswork. Barrows questioned whether the material being used comes under the same classification of material used for artwork as defined in the city code.
Project Architect Kevin Oreck said the material for the building is costing about $131,000 and the glass itself is gong to cost up to $750,000. This is much more money we need to spend. “We are treating it as a piece of art,” he said.
Mayor Pro Tem Joseph Cho said he drove by a similar structure at he intersection of La Brea and Clausen Avenue in Los Angeles and while it is not quite the same, this building in his opinion it qualifies as a piece of art.
Councilmember Laura Lee agreed on the beauty of the building, but said she would hesitate on saying it qualified as a piece of art under the city code. She applauded their decision to construct the building but she just wasn’t sure about it coming under the Arts in Place Program.
Councilmember Carol Chen said it was a very beautiful design and said it was an innovated usage of construction material. But she too questioned whether it could be defined as a piece of art. “It’s my opinion that while it is a very lovely building I do not think it comes under the program. She described the cost of a separate art piece at about $25,000, which she said was small compared to the cost of the structure.
Councilman Jim Edwards said it would be a beautiful edition for visitors coming into the city off Bloomfield. “As long as we take it step by step I think it can be defined as an art piece.
The council voted 3-2 designating it as such, with Edwards, Lee and Cho voting in favor and Barrows and Chen voting no.