Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

EMMA S. BARRIENTOS MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER SPECIAL CALLED MEETING Wednesday, January 26, 2022 ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES The Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Advisory Board convened via in person and video conferencing. Board Members in Attendance: David Goujon, Chair Art Navarro, Vice Chair Gerardo Gandy, Member Ricardo Maga Rojas, Member Tomas Salas, Member Endi Silva, Member Wayne Lopes, Member Board Member Absent: Claudia Massey, Member Staff in Attendance: Olivia Tamzarian, ESB-MACC Supervisor CALL TO ORDER: Chair Goujon called the Board Meeting to order at 6:10 pm. CITIZEN COMMUNICATION Leonard Davila expressed his concerns with the accommodations for large outdoor events. He mentioned his concerns for the size of the Zocalo being cut down. Larry Amado expressed concern that the schematic design had already been presented to the design commission and felt it should have been presented to the MACC board first. He also expressed his issues with the community engagement process and understood the constraints due to COVID but felt like more engagement needed to happen in the community. He expressed his concern for the size of the Zocalo. Mario Campos expressed his support for the schematic design. He also mentioned the need for more mentorship programs for youth. He would like to see more educational programs in technology and programs that will provide opportunities to create generational wealth. Chair Goujon encouraged all community members to participate in future meetings. Francisco Rosales presented his background as the chair for Latinos in Architecture wanted to commend the design team on the schematic design of Phase 2. He also expressed the importance of having community engagement at the forefront. He also extended possibility of collaborations with LIA as needed. 1  1. PRESENTATIONS (AGENDA ITEM 1a) A) Presentation by Heidi Tse, Project Manager and the joint venture of Miro Rivera Architects and Tatiana Bilbao Studios on the Schematic Design for Phase 2. Heidi Tse recounted the number of community engagement meetings and introduced the joint venture team. Miguel Rivera presented the schematic design drawings and expressed the work that had been done in the past year and three months. He discussed the extension of the north and south wings, the control access for the Zocalo, and new space proposed for the lake level. Juan Miro added that the original design of Teodoro Gonzalez de Leon had a strong form and this design showed that the idea continued. Rivera also responded to the public comment that the front circular driveway would stay the same. Stephanie Saulmon from landscape design firm Tenyeck discussed the landscape plan and emphasized the need to preserve the park like setting of the MACC and reinforce the connection to the parkland. She recounted the new opportunities for landscape such as the playground area and the new healing garden. She also identified where the art in public spaces would be moved to. Saulmon showed the new lawn space on the lower level and the site improvements including the trail. She also discussed the types of trees that would be planted. Mariana Martins from Tatiana Bilbao studio presented the first floor, second floor, and lower level renovations and addition. She identified the new youth wing, the new gallery spaces, new teaching kitchen, new black box theater and classrooms. She mentioned addressing the needs that had been expressed by staff and the community such as lack of storage spaces, lack of work spaces, lack of preparation spaces, and lack of control of the Zocalo space. She discussed shell spaces that could be completed in future funding cycles. Juan Miro mentioned listening to the MACC community and the building itself and then put all the pieces of the MACC puzzle together. He mentioned the need for the MACC to increase its presence within the Rainey neighborhood and to showcase all of the wonderful things that the MACC does. Chair Goujon thanked everyone for attending the meeting and mentioned that due to the pandemic, this was the only time available to schedule a meeting safely. He mentioned that he studied the design closely and thinks that the plans will increase the ability of the MACC to serve the public in a very dynamic and adaptive way into the future. He mentioned appreciating the thought put into the design but still had questions about the Zocalo and the connection to trails, the future Project Connect blue line, and Rainey Street. He recounted the issues with the existing Zocalo space. He asked the design team to go over the Zocalo space again and explain the access plan. Juan Miro described the schematic design of the 31,000 square foot Zocalo space. He mentioned that many of the trees shown in the landscape plan are the existing trees that would provide much needed shade. He continued that the added control points would give more control to provide 2 access in certain ways. He mentioned the ability of the MACC to close gates in the evenings for security purposes. Vice Chair Navarro thanked the Chair for focusing on the Zocalo and outdoor events. He mentioned seeing flaws in the community engagement plan and asked if there was a reduction of space in the Zocalo. He asked about additional electrical upgrades and posed a question about the number of attendees for special events. Discussion ensued about the number of attendees and the location of a stage in the Zocalo. Heidi Tse mentioned that these are still conceptual state of the project and mentioned that that level of detail has not been reached. She recounted that we are obligated to work within parameters such as following code when it comes to removal of trees. More discussion was had about the lack of opportunities for the community to provide feedback. Vice Chair Navarro asked why board members were left out of design meetings. Tse responded that 9 community meetings were held for community members to provide feedback. She also mentioned not having control over the CMAR process and the length of the Miro added that additional configurations of the spaces can be provided in the future. Chair Goujon asked about clarification between the schematic design and design development phases. Rivera explained various configurations and consultants providing input. More discussion ensued about what details will be provided during design development. He mentioned getting cost estimates in the next phase. Chair Goujon mentioned that a delay in the project would be a reduction of what can be built. He stated with having a concern with delaying the project. Rivera mentioned that the funding allocated was not sufficient to build out Phase 2. He mentioned that the design still adds 100% the amount of space specified in the 2018 Master Plan. More discussion ensued about future programming in spaces and way finding and recounting the story of the ESB MACC. Vice Chair Navarro asked about the size of the trees in the Zocalo. He also asked about the types of chairs and where they would be stored. Saulmon responded that the trees would be inground trees and will be thinking of site lines when selecting the types of trees. Miro mentioned the lack of storage space for 400 chairs and that most likely they would be rented. Chair Goujon asked about updates to the community and mentioned that the project website and the Speak Up Austin pages had not been updated. He wanted to see more engagement with partner organizations that will be using the spaces. Board member Maga Rojas stressed the need for more community engagement and stated that he is looking forward to the design development phase. Chair Goujon thanked the project team and mentioned that to prioritize safety, the meeting had to be held after the Design board meeting. He asked Vice Chair Navarro if he was prepared to have a vote. Vice Chair Navarro said he was not prepared and would like to delay it to the next board 3 meeting. Chair Goujon stated that he was ok with delaying a vote in support for the regularly scheduled board meeting and asked that it be included in the next meeting agenda. 2. ADJOURNMENT Chair Goujon motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:56 pm. Vice Chair Navarro seconded. Motion passed 7.0 4