For more than a decade, Santa Monica has been trying to answer a deceptively simple question: Can its historic Santa Monica Civic Auditorium be saved without requiring the city to spend a fortune?

The latest company being asked to find an answer is AEG Presents, the world’s second-largest concert promoter and the parent company of Goldenvoice, which is producing the new Ocean Way Festival on the Santa Monica beach this September.

Under a proposed Exclusive Negotiation Agreement, or ENA, AEG would receive an initial six-month period to study whether the shuttered Civic can be rehabilitated and operated as a financially sustainable live entertainment venue. The agreement could be extended twice, for 90 days each, giving the company as long as one year to complete its work.

But the agreement is not a redevelopment deal, lease or commitment to reopen the building. It is essentially a privately funded feasibility study coupled with an exclusive negotiating window.