Young kids were singing and celebratory champagne flutes were getting tipped last Thursday evening as five ceremonially hard-hatted movers and shakers with the Music Academy of West leaned forward for the cameras and turned their silver-plated shovels full of dirt as part of the official groundbreaking for what will soon become a humming musical hot spot at the longtime vacant corner of State and Canon Perdido streets.
A few minor city permits are required before construction begins in earnest, transforming what used to be Forever 21 into what’s been dubbed “The Muse” — a 20,000-square-foot, 200-seat, multistoried space for musical performances, instruction, practice, and recording. Naturally, it will come with a rooftop lounge boasting all the usual breathtaking urban skyline views.
Kicking off the $55 million construction project was Cheryl Goldberg, who upon the recent death of her husband, donated the $20 million needed to purchase the building for the Music Academy. Wielding one of the ceremonial shovels, Goldberg expressed excitement at the thought of “celebrating thousands of experiences yet to happen.”
After the ceremonial moments had subsided, Music Academy staff and well-wishers mingled outside. No one expressed any concern over the fate of the State Street Master Plan — soon to be the subject of a bitter referendum showdown — even though inside were two of the candidates in the race for mayor (over which the master plan is a dividing line).
The Muse project, it turns out, is poised to become the epicenter of a $100 million triangle of new and renovated music and arts halls within not-many feet of each other. The other two include the $22 million renovation now about to get underway at the Lobero Theatre — another rooftop lounge will also be included — and the $21 million makeover of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival that Director Roger Durling is about to wrap up of what used to be the old Fiesta Five. With or without a master plan, the 900 block of State Street appears determined to happen on its own.
For more information about the project, which is scheduled to open in 2028, see musicacademy.org/the-muse.
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