Marking its centennial in the community, the Santa Monica Airport received approval from the Santa Monica City Council in January 2023 for a public visioning process to decide its future. Spanning 227 acres, the airport constitutes nearly 5% of the city's land area. Apart from providing aviation services, the airport currently hosts a variety of businesses such as art studios, office spaces, event venues, and a restaurant. It is also home to Santa Monica College’s Airport Campus housing the Ceramics Program and the Mentor Arts Program. 

Today's efforts are the result of an initiative in 2014 whereby Santa Monica voters overwhelmingly (60.45%) approved a ballot initiative to cease aviation and development activities and essentially close the airport permanently in 2028. Since that vote 10 years ago Santa Monica residents have been advocating for a project that can be utilized by the entire community and create much needed green space to become a fully functioning park with both unprogrammed outdoor areas and multi-purpose recreational facilities. 

The primary objective of this project is to align with community goals and priorities that address needs for both present and future generations. Sasaki & Associates is leading technical and design aspects of the project while The Robert Group (TRG) is leading public outreach and community engagement activities.

Earlier this year the team commenced outreach efforts and a strategy aimed at supporting and motivating public and community engagement for the City of Santa Monica. TRG and Sasaki are currently addressing potential challenges, proposing approaches to overcome these challenges, and facilitating community input at various public events throughout the City. 

TRG has established project milestones to guide outreach efforts. In order to appropriately serve such a dynamic project, emphasis will be placed on leveraging successful virtual and in-person outreach approaches. TRG’s outreach aims to effectively notify, educate, and engage Santa Monica residents and stakeholders as well as to solicit and collect feedback utilizing a variety of feedback tools and exercises. TRG will also support website and survey development for the project, assist with walking tours of the project site, and co-lead community events, workshops, pop-up events, and focus groups. 

TRG is excited to facilitate participation through a comprehensive outreach and engagement program ensuring that the Santa Monica Airport Conversion Project collects vital data from the broadest range of participants so that subsequent phases reflect a project demonstrating Santa Monica's best possible future.