WILLIAM S. HART PARK
TRANSITION REPORT
City of Santa Clarita
2023
History of the Site
Last Will & Testament
Properties
Project Background
Current Operation
Site Condition
Collection
Future Operations
Financial Impact
Opportunities & Challenges
Next Steps
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1 2
3 4
5-6
7-9
10-11
12-13
14 15
16 "While I was
making pictures, the
people gave me
their nickels, dimes,
and quarters.
When I am gone, I
want them to have
my home."
HISTORY OF THE SITE
1 The William S. Hart Regional Park (Hart Park) is an
approximately 160-acre park that is currently owned
and operated by the County of Los Angeles (County)
but located in the City of Santa Clarita (City).
The property on which Hart Park is located belonged
to silent film star William S. Hart, who left the bulk
of his estate to the County upon his death in 1946,
stipulating that his home and ranch property be used
as a museum and public park. Hart Park is home to
the William S. Hart Museum, historic Heritage
Junction, many native plants and animals, and a
herd of American Bison. Amenities at Hart Park
include hiking and nature trails, a large picnic area,
and buildings that had been used by William S. Hart
personally.
LAST WILL &
TESTAMENT
2 William S. Hart’s Last Will and Testament (Will), executed on September 9, 1944, governs and outlines use and maintenance requirements at the site. More specifically, the Will states the following:
“The Park shall be forever used exclusively as a public park and pleasure grounds, and for exhibition purposes, for the amusement, recreation, health, and pleasure of its inhabitants. The Park shall be open to public use at all times, subject to proper restrictions to be provided by the Board of Supervisors of the County. No charge or fee shall ever be made to the public for admittance to the Park."
Further, the Will outlines specific obligations for the maintenance of the grounds and museum properties so that they are usable and accessible to the public during operating hours. Specific to the Museum, the Will also requires security when the Museum is open to the public and specific requirements to preservation and protection of artifacts within. 1991 Court Order
Upon initial analysis and feedback collected from the County, revenue generating events at the Park were significantly limited due to the Will. However, a Court order issued on August 13, 1991 by the Superior Court for the State of California to the County of Los Angeles determined "...that fees for special events and fundraising to support the park are consistent with Hart's will." This Court order would allow events including, but not limited to, "...classes, concerts, plays and movies...filmmaking, weddings...company outings and birthday celebrations. Such events shall be scheduled so that they will not unreasonably restrict the public's general uses of the park either as to area or time."
Further, the Court Order requires specific accounting for money collected for these special events: "...any money obtained from the programs or fundraising activities permitted herein shall be segregated and accounted for separately...and used exclusively for and at William S. Hart County Park."
PROPERTIES
3 As you can see in this diagram, eight
properties exist within the Hart Park
property. Two of which are not subject
to the Will (not highlighted in yellow).
The more oversized parcel of the two
contains Heritage Junction.
2827-001-902 (9.33 acres; third portion
purchased by Hart)
2827-001-903 (0.24 acres; County
purchased in 1968 from the federal
government – formerly a forest ranger
office)
2827-001-904 (24.4 acres; owned by
the Frew family and sold to County in
1958)
2827-001-905 (13.4 acres; purchased by
Hart c. 1933)
2827-001-906 (41.3 acres; purchased by
Hart c. 1933)
2827-001-907 (33.7 acres; purchased by
Hart c. 1926-7)
2827-001-912 (32.1 acres; first portion
purchased by Hart in 1921)
2827-001-913 (1.23 acres; County
purchased in early 1970s from Cal
Lutheran Church)
Therefore, at the November 23, 2021 meeting, the City Council approved an item to explore the opportunity to transfer the only remaining County-owned park within the City boundary to City ownership. Shortly after that approval, a team of City staff was formed to analyze the process of obtaining ownership of the site and the future financial commitment for operations and maintenance.
PROJECT
BACKGROUND
Close to many City facilities and amenities, Hart
Park serves as a point of connection with many of
the programs and activities that the City
provides. A large portion of Hart Park is also
located within the boundaries of the Old Town
Newhall Specific Plan.
Hart Park remains an important amenity in the
area, and it is likely that the use of Hart Park may
expand to accommodate more City events in the
future.
The City has had a long-standing vision of the Old
Town Newhall Arts and Entertainment District and
has put significant resources into creating an area
that attracts residents and tourists to this historic part of the community. The City has made numerous
investments in Old Town Newhall to support that
vision, including the creation of the Veterans
Historical Plaza, the construction of the Newhall
Library, the operation of The MAIN, construction of
the parking structure, enhancement of the historic
downtown via street and sidewalk improvements,
and the implementation of SENSES, Light Up Main
Street, and other events.
4 CURRENT OPERATION
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, William S. Hart Park has continued to operate in a limited capacity.
There is nothing displayed on the County's William S. Hart Regional Park website besides self- serve amenities such as the turf areas and hiking trails. The grounds are currently open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Programming has also been minimal at the site in recent years, but is beginning to increase in the first quarter of 2023.
Prior to the Pandemic, the Mansion operated as a public museum with tours offered by Natural History Museum (NHM) staff Wednesdays through Fridays from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Mansion has remained closed to the public, with NHM staff onsite periodically to perform collection maintenance. Currently, NHM staff are assessing, rehousing, and performing conservation/preservation treatments on collection items.
A few events have taken place at Hart Hall in the past two years, but nothing notable or significant is being done to plan events or do any substantial marketing to advertise the space. 5 CURRENT OPERATION
The Barnyard
While the site has not seen significant programming in recent years and the Museum continuesto be closed, the Barnyard Animal Visiting Center did reopen to the public in August of 2021.The animals at the Banyard include wild boars, alpacas, donkeys, horses, mule deer, pot-belliedpigs, tortoises, rabbit, turkey, pheasant, ducks, geese, chicken, swans, along with a bison herd,located in a 22-acre enclosure.
The Barnyard is open 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and is operated by LACounty staff and volunteers. While LA County staff provides the routine care and maintenanceof the animals, veterinarian and other specialty services are contracted out to a list of approvedvendors. 6 SITE CONDITION
The project team has conducted multiple inspections at the site over the last year. While the team obtained some records of completed capital projects and details about ongoing maintenance, there is deferred maintenance to both the facilities and the surrounding landscape that would need to be addressed over time.
Facilities
All facilities on the site have been inspected by City staff and itemized into a tiered level of importance pertaining to safety with associated costs to repair. The County provided a recent capital reserve study to help identify areas of immediate need and outline the investments made recently to rehabilitate some of the facilities. Most of the more modern facilities are functional, but must be addressed over time. The historical facilities are in good condition at this time, with some immediate needs that have been identified.
7 SITE CONDITION
Landscape
Irrigation Upgrades
Abandoned landscape/turf area rehabilitation
Storm drainage/swale Improvements
Maintenance to the landscape has been kept to a minimum in recent years. It appears only basic mow and blow services are being provided on a daily basis. Many of the surrounding trees near walkways and pathways are deteriorating or in need of pruning to protect the health of the tree or adjacent structures. Immediate needs include removing dead or declining trees, pruning poorly structured trees, stump grinding to remove existing stumps, and pest management treatments for trees showing symptoms of pathogenic activity.
Transitioning to the condition of the remaining turf and shrub areas, the following would be the primary focus of parks maintenance staff at the Park:
8 SITE CONDITION
Mansion
As mentioned, the Mansion/Museum has been closed during the Pandemic. The construction of the Mansion was completed in 1927 and houses the 3-dimensional portion of the Hart Collection consisting of more than 6,000 objects. Rehabilitation work has been performed periodically since the late 1980s by the Department of Parks and Recreation, NHM staff, and contractors.
Overall, the Mansion is in good condition. However, the materials and systems in this building are outdated and unique. This will likely require outside contractors to complete future maintenance and repairs. Further, there are two items in need of immediate attention:
the HVAC and the phos-check system.
NHM staff confirmed maintenance is a delicate item and that their team leads these efforts and has specialty contractors they utilize.
They have outfitted special transport boxes to remove the most significant historical pieces. NHM is also currently responsible for evacuating the Mansion's collection in case of a fire or similar emergency.
9 HART COLLECTION
NHM for conservation and temporary exhibitionsNHM offsite collection facilities for conservation purposes William S. Hart Papers (135 linear feet)Photographs, negatives, and film reels (45 linear feet)Unprocessed Hart containers (25 boxes) Obtaining ownership of the Hart Collection would be a significant effort, along with theongoing responsibilities associated with collection management. The following informationhas been obtained about the Hart Collection to date:
Hart Collection at the Mansion
There is no physical Hart material kept permanently at any County facility other than thearchival collections in the Seaver Center. Periodically, objects are temporarily transferred to:
All objects are moved back to the Hart Mansion following the completion of conservationwork and/or temporary exhibition display. These transactions are always recorded byIncoming and Outgoing Receipts kept by the Registrar's Office. Collections are always trackedfor Insurance purposes.
Hart Collection at the Seaver Center
The archival portion of the Hart Collection was removed from the Hart Mansion in the 1980sand is housed at the Seaver Center. The intention was to return the collection to Hart Parkonce the County constructed an appropriate facility to house the collection and providepublic access. This did not happen. NHM staff stated that the collection is integrated into theirhistory collection at the Seaver Center and that it would be a challenge to remove it for thetransfer. This process could take considerable time. With some planning, it could be possibleto house the archival collection in our Archives at Newhall Library. The close proximity ofNewhall Library to the Hart Museum will allow patrons to visit the Museum and thenresearch or browse Hart's personal and professional records in our Archives at the Library.According to NHM staff, the collection includes:
10 HART COLLECTION
11 Museum Collection Data Transfer
City staff had a meeting with the NHM’s collections and Technology Services (TS) staff todiscuss the data transfer of the digital assets. Currently, we do not have a system in-house thatcan accommodate this type of collection/data. Using Polaris, the Library’s integrated librarysystem, for this purpose is not feasible because the software cannot support museum orarchival collections. Moving forward, it will be important to identify a secure means for storingHart Collection data (collection management system) with appropriate redundancy to ensurethere is no loss of information.
Museum Accreditation
The Hart Museum was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums in 2011. The NHMwas set to reapply for accreditation in 2026. Accreditation does not transfer with the museum.According to NHM staff, when a museum transfers ownership to a different entity, it is seen asa new museum under new management. The City’s staff would have to apply for accreditationif interested in acquiring this status; however, the museum would not be eligible to apply untiltwo years after its transfer to the City.
FUTURE OPERATIONS
Recreation
Recreational programming, offered by the City, would vary from large scale single day specialevents to weekly youth camps and staff or volunteer led community hikes. The City hasdeveloped several new programs that would fit within Hart Park including a Youth OutdoorAdventure Camp and a Community Hike series that continues to grow. Staff also anticipates HartHall being part of the City’s facility reservation options for the community with weekly rentalsand meetings be held in the space. The seven group campgrounds are also a great addition to theCity, for various rentals and events for a variety of different groups. City staff also expects tooffer interactive programming including animal tours, animal caretaking classes, movies in thepark, and seasonal youth camps similar to Camp Clarita.
Events
The City of Santa Clarita has a rich history of producing or co-producing events at William S. HartPark. This goes back to the early years after City formation, as several Concerts in the Park eventsand ancillary events during the Cowboy Festival were held at the site. Once the City takespossession of the property there are events that would return to the location or events that couldbe relocated to the venue.
Events Previously Held at Hart Park
The three events held at Hart Park before the Covid pandemic were the annual Cowboy Festival,the Newhallywood Silent Film Festival, and staging for the 4th of July Parade, which is co-produced by the City. All three events would return to the site.
Events that Could be Relocated to Hart Park Two existing event series could be relocated to the park. The first is the weekly Saturday morningFarmers Markets currently held at the Old Town Newhall Library parking lot. The MarketManager is not supportive of this concept as he believes without being on a busier street it wouldimpact his attendance, but due to the challenges of the current location in terms of the impact tothe library and its programming, the change would be ideal for the future growth of the Market.The second event series is City Cinemas, which launched last year at Central Park. The Countyprovided the community with a summer film series and moving the City’s version to Hart Parkwould be recommended. 12 Potential Future Events
Some events that have been discussed in the past and would make sense to develop for the site inthe near future include another film festival celebrating our Western film heritage. The proposal isto hold the film festival in August to coincide with the annual Friends of Hart Park Silents Underthe Stars event.
Another event series that has been discussed is to develop a quarterly art show, which wouldfeature fine art and craft vendors, food and drink vendors, and pop-up and mobile museumexperiences. This is recommended in the Arts Master Plan, and the Arts Commission and staffbelief that the SCV Historical Society’s Heritage Junction would be an ideal location for this type ofevent. It could easily be held at the same time as the weekly Farmers Markets, as that event wouldmost likely be held near the grass area adjacent to Newhall Avenue further north at the location.
Revenue Potential
On the revenue side, it is important to note that revenue opportunities were very limited in thepast due to the properties being enforced by the William S. Hart Will, which states that the Park isto be free to the public. However, the project team believes there may be additional revenueopportunities to help pay for annual operations and capital improvements at the site.
As an example, when the Cowboy Festival switched locations to Hart Park, the City had to developa different structure to make the event free to the public. As a result, general admission to theevent was free to everyone, but the City was able to charge for VIP passes and fees for vendors.Revenue opportunities like these are supported by a court order that was issued to the County onAugust 13, 1991, "...finding that fees for special events and fundraising to support the park areconsistent with Hart's will." With knowledge of precedential events at the site and the court order, another significant revenuestream that could be captured at this site is filming. While the park needs to be open to the publicfor free, sections of the park could be sectioned off for filming similar to how filming at other Cityparks is conducted.
Finally, there is a large parcel (24.4 acres) included in the possible transfer that is not governed bythe Will. The opportunities for revenue generation on this parcel could be fully explored and werenot included in the financial impact on the following page. 13 FUTURE OPERATIONS
FINANCIAL IMPACT
14 $331,780
Year 1
*Includes $650,000 in Capital Projects
Revenues
Year 2
$3,449,410* $2,324,974
Year 1 Year 2
$380,220
Expenditures
Net
($3,117,631)
Year 1 Year 2
($1,944,754)
After a thorough review of documentation provided by the County, the City developed a financial forecast that assumes taking over all operations of Hart Park and maintenance of the grounds and facilities, including functions of the Mansion and care for the animals at the site. It also assumes relocating existing programming and events to Hart Park and expanding new programming at the site over time; however, as a conservative measure, it does not capture any significant new events, filming activity, or new use of the non-Will parcel.
OPPORTUNITIES
& CHALLENGES
While there is still much to learn about the overall operations and condition of the park amenities, historical artifacts and facilities, the project team has done a great deal of discovery over the last year. They developed a comprehensive list of potential opportunities with assuming ownership and operations of the site, as well as potential challenges. 15 Large regional parkLast County-owned park within the City boundary Possible revenue potential beyond current operations (filming, events, etc.)Control of enhancements to the park Local historic educational opportunities Preservation of local history and significanceLeveraged volunteer work Increase in community support for one-time and annual donations toimprove the Park Significant effort to extract and transfer historic artifacts (physical anddigital) related to the Hart CollectionManagement of the Museum including preservation of the Hart Absence of historic building plans for future maintenanceMaintenance and repair of aging, historic facilities with unfamiliar,complicated systems Management and care of animals at the site Infrastructure issues and repairs (e.g. slope failure, phos-check system,water storage tank, retaining walls, etc.)Evacuation and preservation of historic artifacts during emergencies Opportunities
Challenges
Collection
NEXT STEPS
While the City project team has been working to develop this report, staff has also been simultaneously working with County staff to outline the transition process. Should the City Council and the County Board of Supervisors agree to move forward on the transfer of ownership, the City would incur expenses related to each of the steps below, including, but not limited to, appraisal and title reports; CEQA exemption filing; probate preparation, filing and processing; and preparation of legal documents. Staff estimates it could take anywhere from 18 to 24 months to complete the general steps identified below to fully execute the transfer and begin City operations of the Park. 16 CITY COUNCIL DIRECTION TO PROCEED WITH THE TRANSFER
COMPLETE TITLE REPORT AND APPRAISAL
CEQA - CLASS 25 EXEMPTION
PROBATE COURT (COUNTY WOULD FILE)
FORMAL APPROVAL BY CITY AND COUNTY FOR TRANSFER
EXECUTION OF DOCUMENTS
PSA
CONFORMANCE WITH CITY PLANNING
PARK TRANSFER AGREEMENT
QUITCLAIM DEED
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM TRANSFER AGREEMENT FOR COLLECTION
DETERMINE GRANTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SITE AND
REASSIGNMENT
PREPARE FOR TRANSFER (RECRUIT AND HIRE STAFF,
PURCHASE EQUIPMENT)
CERTIFICATE OF ACCEPTANCE
TRUST FUND TRANSFER
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.