A Settlement in the Matter of the Derelict Summerland House

••• The Santa Barbara Museum of Art‘s grand reopening on August 15 will be the first time visitors can fully experience the results of the six-year renovation, including “new dedicated galleries for contemporary art, photography, and new media.” And August 15 is a free community day, so reserve now.

••• Interesting tidbit (underlined by me) in the city’s release of hotel-tax revenues from June: “The City of Santa Barbara collected $2,229,391 in transient occupancy taxes for June 2021. TOT revenues in June 2021 were $1.4 million above June collections last year—which was significantly impacted by the Covid-19 restrictions and travel advisories. Compared to June 2019, June 2021 revenues were higher by 17%; however, this is largely due to increased average daily rates, which are 20% higher than June 2019, with occupancy only slightly higher by 1%.”

••• At the Lobero on November 18: “Mississippi-native songwriter, singer, and guitar slinger Paul Thorn has created an innovative and impressive career, pleasing crowds with his muscular brand of roots music. Bluesy, rocking and thoroughly Southern Americana. A modern day Will Rogers with songs that speak to universal truths. He has made some of the most emotionally restless yet fully accessible music of our time.” And “local singer/songwriter Will Breman, finalist on NBC’s ‘The Voice,’ to warm up the stage.”

••• On Thursday, July 29, at 6 p.m., the Parks & Recreation Department will hold a public meeting at Dwight Murphy Field (across the street from the Cabrillo Pavilion) with an update on the park’s revamp: “This park will be packed with fun features: an outdoor fitness area, a regulation-size soccer field (Santa Barbara’s first and only!), a youth baseball field, sport field lighting, water- and maintenance-saving artificial turf with organic fill, Gwendolyn’s Playground—the first fully-inclusive playground in Santa Barbara, new restrooms, beautiful (and functional) landscaping and trees, easy parking.”

••• Our new dining room has a bold wallpaper that, in my opinion, would benefit from having a lot of black-and-white photos on it. The one we have up—by Chris Silva and bought from DnA Design & Art in Carp years ago—looks fantastic. But I’m at a loss as to where to find more. I want the photos to be beautiful and interesting but not cliché and not necessarily local. Any advice?

••• Jeff O’Neil and Santa Barbara County appear to have reached a settlement in regard to the house O’Neil wanted to build on an oceanfront Summerland bluff. (Short version: even though a house already existed there, the county rezoned the property from residential to recreational, which blocked him from legally moving forward.) I assume the settlement is financial, and not that the county caved on allowing a new house; I’ve reached out to O’Neil in the hope of getting more details. Here are a few photos from when I wrote about the matter last September.

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