The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Conceptual design expected this winter
The future of a new performing arts facility in Mt. Crested Butte continues to take shape, but an official agreement between the town and the Crested Butte Music Festival over the construction and operation of the facility is still some distance from being signed.
Music festival board president Tom Biery says, “We are progressing nicely on a number of parallel fronts. We’re still working on finalizing the agreement with the town, and I think we’re close.”
Mt. Crested Butte Mayor William Buck says the groups are currently working on the third draft of the agreement, which will detail how the construction will be funded, what sort of ownership will be retained over the facility, and how the facility should be operated. He expects the agreement to be signed this month.
In May, the town and the music festival announced their intent to partner in building a new 400-seat performing arts facility. The move coincided with a decision by the town’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to change their primary focus of building an aquatic recreation center, which was deemed financially unfeasible in the current economy. The recreation center was put as the DDA’s second priority, and the performing arts facility took the top spot.
The town and the music festival signed a letter of intent that contains some basic agreements. First, the town will provide the land for the new facility at the Inn Site 2 parcel, otherwise known as the “Rasta” free parking lot at the corner of Gothic and Treasury Roads. The DDA also agreed to draw up to $6 million in a bond issue to finance the construction costs, provided that the music festival contributes an additional $4 million and pays for the design process.
Biery admits the task of getting an agreement settled between the town and the music festival has taken longer than first anticipated, but he says it’s totally new ground for the music festival board. He says the board is also getting ready to send out a request for proposals to architectural firms for an initial structural concept.
Of course, one of the big questions the music festival board must tackle is how to raise the projected $4 million to fund their share of the construction. “Yes, we’ve thought quite a lot about fundraising. But as far as starting that program we haven’t done anything yet. You have to have a concept to show people first,” Biery says.
Biery thinks the music festival will have a concept to show to the public by the end of the year.
