Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Lancaster to Sell Buildings to Fine Arts Group

LANCASTER —  Ending a community tug-of-war over a former county office complex, the City Council has agreed to sell the downtown buildings to the Antelope Valley Allied Arts Assn. for $249,000.

The city bought the five buildings in 1987 and planned on two occasions to demolish them to make way for downtown renewal projects. But local history buffs protested, and persuaded state and federal officials to recognize the complex as an historic site.

The City Council voted 3 to 0 Monday to sell the complex to the nonprofit arts group, which has vowed to refurbish and restore the buildings.

“I think the council has received a message loud and clear that these buildings are to be preserved,” Mayor Arnie Rodio said. “I don’t see why we would want to delay it. I’d like to get this thing moving.”

Randy Brumbaugh, member of the committee that campaigned to save the buildings, asked for a three-week delay while his group reviewed the sale agreement to make sure that the structures would be restored properly.

“All along, our goal has been preservation of the buildings,” he said.

The council declined to postpone the sale, but instructed its staff to make certain that the agreement includes preservation provisions.

The regional association, founded in 1947, promotes painting, sculpting and other fine arts through exhibitions and scholarship programs. The group plans to set up offices and a permanent gallery in the complex, then lease the remaining space.

The Cedar Avenue complex, built between 1920 and 1938, housed Los Angeles County offices in the Antelope Valley until the 1950s.

In purchasing the buildings, the arts group was not required to make a down payment. It must pay the city $249,000, plus 4.5% interest, in monthly installments of $1,119.41 over a 40-year period.

The price is significantly less than the $395,000 the city paid for the complex in 1987.

In a report to the council, city staff members said the reduced price is justified because of the intended use by nonprofit organizations and because the association will have to spend a significant sum to upgrade and preserve the buildings.

It will cost about $150,000 to get the buildings into usable condition, said Mark Rencoret, the group’s negotiation and building chairman.