An adaptive reuse project transforms a historic library into a contemporary museum dedicated to Chicano art.

The city library in Riverside, California, is a massive building that had served generations of residents and faced an uncertain future.

Enter Cheech Marin, an actor and comedian best known for his iconic role in the “Cheech & Chong” movie franchise. With a passion for the arts and a deep-rooted connection to the community, Marin helped reimagine a piece of the city’s past for the future.

It was his vast collection of Chicano art, and a public-private partnership between Marin, the Riverside Art Museum (RAM), and the City of Riverside that made an adaptive reuse project of the historic landmark possible.

Under architect Page & Turnbull and design architect WHY, the adaptive reuse project transformed the 1965 New Formalist-style, mid-century building from an old library into a notable museum and art center that houses The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture.

But the renovation did more than create a dynamic cultural center, says John D. Lesak, principal at Page & Turnbull.

“The Cheech,” as it’s locally known, has been hailed as a “catalyst for the Riverside arts scene that encourages emerging Latino artists throughout California’s Inland Empire,” Lesak says.

The adaptation and renovation also, “Achieves a balance between preserving the building’s character-defining architecture and design of new interior spaces and system upgrades that meet the needs of a modern museum and cultural center.”

And, the building’s modernist design, with its clean lines and minimalist aesthetic, stands out in the neighborhood’s large, elaborate Spanish Colonial and Mission Revival-style buildings, he adds.

Preserving the past

The project had two key goals: preservation of the building’s original mid-century architecture and creating a world-class center focused on Chicano art, Lesak says.

“This is important because most of the buildings in Riverside’s historic core are Revival styles, but this building was designed in the stripped-down, classicist New Formalist style popular in 1960s civic architecture,” he says.

Achieving these goals happened in stages. Phase One, beginning in 2017, involved visioning, assessing conditions, programming, engaging the public, and creating concept designs. Phase Two added another year of design services. Then Phase Three, the actual construction, started in 2021 and wrapped up in 2022, with an official opening event and dedication on June 18, 2022.

“A significant part of the project was preserving key architectural aspects of the building in ways that celebrate its original mid-century architecture,” Lesak says.

Reclaiming, reusing and recycling materials was a key part of this initiative. The project successfully preserved the building’s facade and large decorative entry screens, which depict doves in flight. It also restored the open staircase’s original stainless-steel rails, maple handrails, and decorative “Tropiglas” polyester panels, which had been concealed by carpeting for decades. Original plaster domes and ball pendant lights were restored and integrated into new ceilings.

Transformative new spaces

Preservation complete, the project also created two floors of public spaces, galleries, administration and storage spaces in the 61,420-square foot-building, and left 20,000 square feet in the lower level for mechanical systems.

“Before visitors even step inside The Cheech, they’re welcomed to the museum by a semi-circular zocalo, or large plaza, designed for gathering,” Lesak says.

The community can use the plaza for events that run the gamut from concerts to Zumba classes. The only glass at the front of the building are the entry doors below a prominent arched concrete canopy. Through those doors, visitors can see a 26-foot-tall lenticular mural by Brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre that was commissioned specifically for the museum.

Visitors then step inside to a double-height lobby for exhibits, lectures, events, people watching and casual gatherings. Now they can take a closer look at the three-dimensional effect of the lenticular art installation that was visible from the plaza.

“The double-volume lobby is a ‘wow’ space created by cutting an opening into the second floor,” Lesak says.

Crews built art galleries and exhibition spaces on the ground and second floors to showcase hundreds of works created by Chicano artists. The design team further expanded the museum’s offerings by adding multipurpose video/event space, staff offices, art storage, an art education center, gift shop, and eventually a café.

Ronnie Wendt is a freelance writer based in Minocqua, Wisconsin. 

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