Sand City is trying to create a landmark that will both define and energize its core.

The vision for Sand City’s Art Park was hatched during the height of the pandemic, when the community still wanted to socialize, but also stay outside and at a distance. Whether or not the term “social distancing” will stand the test of time – it’s an oxymoron of sorts – remains to be seen, but it’s clear Sand City is committed to the future of the Art Park.

It is planned for a block of land almost entirely owned by the city, and which Sand City officials hope will not only help inject energy into the West End district, but also add much-needed housing to the region.

The idea, in a nascent stage, was presented to City Council on Feb. 20 with a preliminary concept to expand the Art Park into something more. As described in a city report, the hope is the property can become “an outstanding landmark building that defines and enlivens the area, catalyzes future redevelopment, and meets practical needs.”

City Manager Vibeke Norgaard sums that up succinctly. “Sand City doesn’t own a lot of property. We’ve got to try and look at what we have and do something innovative and exciting with it and that lines up with the council’s vision of where they want to go,” she says.

There are no building plans yet, it’s just an idea, one that – if Sand City can pull it off – would be a brick-and-mortar foundation that would bolster the city’s recent identity as a hub for artists to both live and work. The combination is something increasingly challenging on the Central Coast, where the housing supply has consistently lagged behind demand – whether or not water supply is a constraint.

Long term, the vision is that 60 percent of the Art Park will remain as is, while also accommodating a live/work space for artists that would include 16 affordable units, eight extremely-low income, and eight low-income units.

But that same building that would displace some of the existing Art Park is envisioned to be mixed-use with commercial space on the ground floor, which could be an art gallery that opens up to the mural-lined Art Park and allow for community events – the idea is to fold that open space into a brick-and-mortar core.

The possibility has been raised of acquiring the one corner of the property not owned by the city. It’s the home of A&R Plumbing, but no serious offers to make that happen have yet occurred.

Right now, the idea is in a chrysalis, and it could be years before the wings catch light.