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Sausalito Center for the Arts
(The former Bank of America building)
750 Bridgeway, Sausalito CA 94965 (Scroll down for map)
Website is here.
Neighborhood: Downtown & Ferry Pier. Rest rooms are adjacent to northern edge of the plaza. Major city parking lots surround this area. Adjacent to the Cascais Plaza.
The Sausalito Center for the Arts is a major downtown Sausalito community center, and serves as a hub for art and entertainment events in the city. It is owned by the City of Sausalito, and managed by a local community non-profit focused on enhancing its use downtown by residents and visitors.
The History. When Bank of America closed their longtime Sausalito branch in 2020 during the pandemic, they put the building up for sale. This represented both a potential opportunity for Sausalito (at a price), and a potential crisis. The building sits at the heart of the city’s downtown, adjacent to the ferry pier, the primary Sausalito public parking lots and the two major downtown public parks, the summer bike visitor parking area, and even the local parking lot for tour buses. Most Sausalito visitors pass by the building, whether they arrive by car, ferry or bus, as do most local visitors on bikes. Those of us who live and/or work in the city likewise see it in our routine travels.
If the building were bought by a developer for tourist-focused shops, there was a big downside. That kind of development would damage Sausalito’s major goal of having a downtown that serves residents, visitors from nearby towns and overnight visitors, as well as tourists stopping off for an hour. The city already owned all the properties that surrounded the building, so it could either become a downtown centerpiece or a blockade against future plans to serve the community.
Fortunately, as the first step in the sales process, the bank offered to sell the building to the City on very favorable terms. The City Council, Planning Commission and other agencies reviewed the plan, both for its affordability and its strategic value, and the Council voted unanimously to make the purchase. (Full disclosure: As you can probably tell, I as one local think this was a good idea, and spoke in support of the plan.)
The city then held a “Request for Ideas,” looking for proposals on how to have the building best serve the community. A group of local organizations including the Sausalito Art Festival Foundation, ICB Arts Association, Marin Open Studios and multiple art, community and business leaders collaborated to propose the Sausalito Center for the Arts, and this was the plan accepted by the City Council.
Longtime community leaders Louis Briones (Sausalito Art Festival) and Monica Finnegan (Sausalito’s Economic Development Advisory Committee, EDAC) stepped forward to lead the non-profit organization that was formed to manage the uses of the building. Board members include representatives of the ICB Artists Association, Sausalito Arts Festival Foundation, Marin Open Studios, individual and recognized local artists, and city business leaders and residents.
