The City of Venice Historic and Architectural Preservation Board voted to authorize staff to buy a local-designation plaque for the Venice Beach Pavilion, approving an expenditure range of $600 to $850 to be paid from interest available in the City Centennial Fund.

“Actually, the city has a what's called the Centennial Fund ... the stipulations are that, city council can approve expenditures from the principal. But this board can approve expenditures from the interest,” said Harry Klinkhammer, historical resources manager for the City of Venice, describing the source of funds. Klinkhammer said the interest balance is “about a couple of thousand dollars” and that staff has a vendor who has produced prior local-register plaques.

Board members asked about likely cost and material. Klinkhammer said the last plaque cost $595 for a local-register plaque for a mobile home park clubhouse and that the vendor casts plaques in bronze. “The manufacturer that we work with already has that. So I just need to plug in the information to them and say, here's the next plaque, and here's, you know, the name, the, you know, the date of construction and date that it was, listed, and they can go ahead and knock it out for us,” he said.

Board members discussed where the plaque would be installed; staff said Public Works would coordinate installation and that a visible location on the pavilion would be selected once the plaque is in hand. The board also agreed to authorize a slightly larger contingency than past plaques to avoid returning for another vote; one board member proposed approving “up to $850 so we don't have to come back.”

A motion to approve an expenditure of between $600 and $850 for the Venice Beach Pavilion plaque was made and seconded; the board voted in favor. The board also agreed that if the final price exceeded the approved cap, staff will return to the board to request additional funds.