BEVERLY HILLS, CA - In a unanimous and enthusiastic decision, the Beverly Hills City Council approved the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and a City (owned and operated) three-level subterranean parking structure. The vote was taken at the January 22, 2009 City Council meeting.

“It’s a great day for the City of Beverly Hills and a great day for culture,” said Mayor Barry Brucker after the vote. The Council approved the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and the amended lease agreement. The 470-car parking garage was also approved by the Council in their role as Parking Authority of the City of Beverly Hills.

“We are thrilled”, says Chairman of the Annenberg Board of Directors Bram Goldsmith. “The entire Board has worked tirelessly to reach this point, and we appreciate the support of the City and the entire community.”

The Annenberg is situated on the site of the landmark Beverly Hills Post Office.  The award-winning project, designed by architect Zoltan Pali from Studio Pali Fekete architects in Los Angeles, will preserve and adapt the historic Beverly Hills Post Office to include three classrooms, a 150-seat flexible studio space, a donor lounge, production support services and administrative offices. A brand new 500-seat state-of-the art theater will be built adjacent to the landmark Italian Renaissance Revival building. A glass bridge will connect the two buildings and a sculpture garden will welcome guests into the courtyard.  Groundbreaking is expected this year.

“This is a celebratory moment for all those who have worked with us from the beginning of our efforts,” says Executive Director Lou Moore. “We can now forge ahead with building a performing arts center.”

After 58 years of service to the community, the federal government determined that the Beverly Hills Post Office could no longer handle the volume of postal demands and closed the historic building in the early 1990s.  With  widespread public support, the City of Beverly Hills negotiated the purchase of the building from the federal government and finalized the acquisition in l998. At the same time a group of prominent business and civic leaders formed a nonprofit organization, the Beverly Hills Cultural Center Foundation, to combine their passion for the arts with their commitment to preserve the building.  The Cultural Center submitted a proposal to Beverly Hills to become the lessee of the Post Office.

In 2004, the Annenberg Foundation made  a magnanimous leadership gift of $15 million, an act of visionary philanthropy, that reflected Wallis Annenberg’s deep passion for architectural preservation and the arts. With deep respect and gratitude for such generosity, the Cultural Center Board of Directors officially changed its name to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.  

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will bring the finest theater, music, dance and children’s theater to Beverly Hills. Audiences of all ages will be entertained, enlightened, and engaged by the Annenberg’s programming. The Annenberg will provide an environment for the performing arts that is intimate, welcoming and historically significant – and all in the heart of a legendary city. Uniquely situated just steps away from world-renowned shopping and dining, the Annenberg will offer arts patrons a first-class experience.

For more information call 310-246-3800.

History
The Beverly Hills Post Office is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1933, the Post Office was constructed as a Work Projects Administration (WPA) project on the site of the former Pacific Electric Railway Station. Prominent local architect, Ralph C. Flewelling, in concert with Allison & Allison Architects, received the architectural commission for the Italian Renaissance Revival style which complemented the design of the adjacent City Hall.

Artist Charles Kassler was commissioned to decorate the walls of the interior Grand Hall with fresco murals depicting the creation of the mail service and views of modern life during the Depression. These murals are one of only two fresco murals in California and stand today as an elegant representation of the citizens of another era.

The Post Office opened in 1934 and was dedicated in 1936 under the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration. For decades following, the Beverly Hills Post Office took on even greater significance by becoming the cornerstone of the City and its social fabric, where prominent citizens of Beverly Hills were spotted daily.

Following the decision in 1993 by the United States Postal Service to vacate and sell the building to the City of Beverly Hills, the Beverly Hills Cultural Center Foundation was awarded a long-term lease by the City Council in 1999 with a specific mandate to raise the necessary funds for the building, restoration and operation of a new Center for the Performing Arts. The Center for the Performing Arts agreed to operate the facility as an arts presenter and producer of cultural programming on a year-round basis with the provision that several days a year be available for use by the City of Beverly Hills.

The Annenberg Foundation
Founded by publisher, diplomat and philanthropist Walter H. Annenberg in 1989, The Annenberg Foundation exists to advance the public well being through improved communication. As the principal means of achieving its goal, the Foundation encourages the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge. The Annenberg Foundation has offices in St. Davids, Pennsylvania and Los Angeles, California.

Beverly Hills Cultural Center Foundation
Formed in 1994 following the decision by the United States Postal Service to vacate and sell the historic post office, the Beverly Hills Cultural Center Foundation's mission is to preserve the architectural integrity of the landmark building and to become a universally recognized cultural venue that enhances the community's quality of life. The Center for the Performing Arts will provide exceptional, professional performing arts productions and cultural programs for audiences of all ages and to serve as a major cultural, artistic, and educational resource for the citizens and young people of Beverly Hills and Greater Los Angeles.