Michael Towbes Plaza: SB’s Beautiful New Town Square Comes with a Side of Library

Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie made a lot of money and couldn’t get rid of it fast enough. “The man who dies rich dies disgraced,” he wrote, and lived his credo. His stubbornly stated goal was to give away – in his lifetime – his entire fortune to causes which he felt would raise and edify humankind. His restless philanthropies were innovative and far-ranging. He credited his own rise to the unfettered access to books he’d enjoyed as a youth, so as an outlandishly liquid adult he began throwing his money at civic libraries. Where? Anywhere with the temerity to ask. Between 1883 and 1929, some 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built, from Pittsburgh to Fiji – one of them at the corner of Anapamu and Anacapa streets in a two-horse frontier town called Santa Barbara. The main branch library doors opened in 1917. 

A scant 107 years later our beloved Santa Barbara library is stirring restlessly in her chrysalis of public beneficence, and on November 3 will emerge to yet another new civic chapter in our sun-splashed hamlet. The Michael Towbes Plaza arguably brings to our swanky burg the only thing she has been truly missing: a literal town square. And because SB is not a town that murmurs when a mezzo shout is in order, the Plaza’s ribbon cutting that day will open a planned Pandora’s Box of color and sound and happy civic hollering – just the sort of mayhem that would rightly get you shushed by a remonstrative librarian anywhere in the world. The Michael Towbes Plaza is a big deal, and will be the jewel in the crown of Santa Barbara’s ever-deepening Arts District, and a town square for all of us, forever. Lauren Trujillo is Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Library Foundation – and a Plaza enthusiast whose language leaps business-speak to soar straight into poetry. 

“The public library stands as a democratic gathering space for people of all walks of life, all classes, all backgrounds,” she says with the energy of an acolyte, stammering slightly with excitement. These are not prepared remarks. “I’m most excited about the library magic,” she says. The library magic? “I’m excited to see how the library magic is going to pour out of the doors and into this space, joining people who would not normally experience something together.” The egalitarian twinning of our Carnegie library and town square have put Executive Director Trujillo into orbit. She’s been in the wheelhouse for years helping to steer this unique project. We should take her joy as an insider’s spoiler alert. 

Plaza Palooza

Michael Towbes, okay? Whew! A prolific giver, gifted businessman, and radiant human animal, Towbes’ serene smile and calming demeanor belied his tireless philanthropy – constant forward motion on behalf of the causes, the people, and the town he adored. The man knew the value of a fleeting hour, and in his autumn years hitched his heart to a spirit as electric as his own. His last road trip alongside his wife and best pal, Anne, was to Burning Man. Yeah, that Burning man. The two drank in daily life like the elixir it truly is. So it was that Anne’s breaking ground for the Michael Towbes Plaza in 2022 gave her Partner in Time new wings; and his beloved Santa Barbara a communal place to be. That the inaugural, communally riotous unveiling of the completed Michael Towbes Plaza is an event called Plaza Palooza? It suits the occasion.

“Our goal was to raise $2 million in his name and in his honor,” Trujillo says. “And gifts of all sizes came in to acknowledge Michael with this space. So we can’t really point to just one entity, but a multitude of community coming together. While we could have opened the space with a prominent ribbon cutting or had an exclusive gala – that doesn’t speak to the meaning of the library.” You can almost hear an Aaron Copland score gently swelling behind these sentiments. The egalitarian theme is strong and heartening. “The library welcomes everyone in our community and provides resources for all,” says Library Plaza Campaign Co-Chair Janet Garufis. “This is our opportunity to recognize Michael Towbes and his legacy of community building for all the citizens of the city of Santa Barbara.”

And what exactly can Michael Towbes Plaza’s new owners – us, that is – expect on November 3, birthday of our new town square? 

“We’re closing off Anapamu Street to traffic … We’re going to have two stages on the main plaza with eight performing groups,” Trujillo says, “all local organizations. The symphony will be performing, the ballet will be performing, CAMA, the Franklin Elementary School Folklorico Academy, Flamenco Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Jazz High School jazz band…” 

Also on hand will be the nonprofits at their colorful tables, they who are the heart and soul and octane of our town. And what are misleadingly called ‘activities’ – that beige term that never sufficiently describes the nutty variety of a community party like this – will be swarming the space. You know – bubbles the size of compact cars and so on. “The bubble guy will be there,” Trujillo confirms. “Also face painting, magic, Touch a Truck…” – an activity that needs no deep parsing – “…C.A.R.E.4Paws’ mobile clinic will be there offering services to people who have animals and want to bring them that day. Oh, and there’ll be historic tours showing the work that’s happened on the interior as well. We’ll show off the new elevator…” (possibly not for riding that day) “…and the Faulkner Gallery has been completely redone…” 

Okay, then. What would you – 

“…and beyond the Michael Towbes Plaza space, there’s the Woodward Grove honoring Taylor Woodward in our community, who was a huge advocate in the education space. There’s the McCune Storytime Square. And people will be able to come and see how they contributed. There’s over 275 bricks with personal inscriptions or names, which really shows the range of community members that participated in the development of the plaza. We’ll have people on that day called Brick Finders so they can help you find your brick if you have one there.”

The unveiling of the Michael Towbes Plaza provides to Santa Barbarans – forever – the central gathering place they’ve been missing, and just incidentally burnishes Santa Barbara’s surrounding Arts District and retailers. “The new Library Plaza will provide a catalyst to the revitalization of downtown Santa Barbara,” says Jim Jackson, Library Plaza Campaign Co-Chair. 

“We want the community to own this space,” Trujillo adds. “That’s why we’re opening it with a block party.”