Culver City Observer -

The Wende Museum will soon start building the Glorya Kaufman Creative Community Center in the southern portion of its armory property at 10858 Culver Boulevard.

Last month, the Museum and its design-build team of AUX Architecture and Shawmut Design and Construction held a groundbreaking for the project, which is named after Kaufman, one of the project's principal supporters and well-known advocate for the performing arts in Los Angeles County.

The phased construction of the center will start in late summer, with completion expected in 2023, city officials said.

Last December, the City Council approved the museum’s redevelopment plan, which also includes six affordable dwelling units and reconfigured community garden at the Culver Boulevard property near Veterans Park, city officials said.

AUX Architecture has designed the 7,022-square-foot, 3-story community center, which would include landscaped terraces and an exterior of painted stucco, concrete, and aluminum. The Center will feature a theater for live performance, art space for veterans and housing for artists.

The project, proposed on a 1.55-acre site between Coombs Avenue and Elenda Street, does not include the Scout House and the paddle tennis courts, city officials said.

The Wende, which will coordinate operations at the new Center, is an art museum, historical archive of the Cold War and center for creative community engagement that explores and inspires change.