Mt. Crested Butte Performing Arts Center in silent phase

But the idea is as alive as ever

Now that town regulation has been sufficiently tweaked to make the Mt. Crested Butte Performing Arts Center (MCBPAC) a possibility, the project seems to have left the public view. But for a dedicated group of volunteers and the lone staff member, it is anything but absent.

Instead, executive director Kathleen Curry, capital campaign chair David Clayton and board member William Buck are trying to keep the project in the public’s mind while the nine-member board of directors ushers it from the conceptual to the conceivable with a move into the silent fundraising phase.
Of course some funds have been raised already to pay for the director’s position, Slaterpaull Architects of Denver to put some ideas to paper, a theatrical consultant and other things necessary to have the plans laid for the PAC when the money is there to move forward with the project.
But the financial needs of the project are going to grow, by a lot. Just how much? No one is willing to guess right now, although Clayton says, “People in this valley are accustomed to trying to raise a half million, million [dollars] and we’re trying to raise substantially more than that.”
The town of Mt. Crested Butte has said that they could bond for $6 million with additional millions being raised by the Crested Butte Music Festival (CBMF) and the Mt. Crested Butte Performing Arts Center board.
The physical plan that does exist for the MCBPAC, which was granted non-profit status last December, describes a building of about 35,000 square feet built to meet a variety of needs, from conference and public spaces to the 400- to 500-seat state-of-the-art auditorium with technical systems to suit any occasion.
A professional stage being envisioned at the MCBPAC would have wings for actors and equipment, an orchestra pit for the performance of a live score and an 80-foot fly tower that will allow the stage crew to hoist sets, lights and, if necessary, performers. There is also a plan to put conference facilities and public space—including post office boxes—to suit the entire community and expand the MCBPAC offering. But the brick and mortar part of the plan is still a way off.
Right now, while the silent phase of fundraising gets going, the board of directors—made up of four representatives from the town of Mt. Crested Butte, four people from the CBMF and at-large board member Western State College president Jay Helman—is in the process of writing “a lot of backup documentation about what kind of facility it is going to be,” Clayton says, so the group has something to take to potential donors.
“One of the things that we’re trying to do is show our second-home owner community that there is a good reason to be involved with projects that happen here in Mt. Crested Butte, Crested Butte and in the broader Gunnison Valley, because there will be a benefit long term.”
To Buck, the benefits of the project are clear. “This is major,” he says. He thinks the MCBPAC will act as a cultural anchor for the town of Mt. Crested Butte and the broader Gunnison Valley, “drawing people to the area and once here, through the core of our town.”
In places like Beaver Creek, Jackson Hole or Aspen, which also have well-known performance centers, the opportunity to see a play or show in a high-quality venue is another attraction to visitors that isn’t necessarily bound by the seasons.
“Also in our minds, it’s an additional attraction, other than skiing or summertime activities,” Buck says. “From the town’s perspective, we’re looking to broaden the attraction base.”
And a growing part of that summertime attraction base comes from the six-week long Crested Butte Music Festival, which has gown exponentially since world-class cellist Alexander Scheirle took over the positions of artistic and managing director of the festival in 2004.
In Scheirle’s first year, the opera program had 35 applicants. This year they auditioned from a pool of 500. This summer the music festival will bring in about 150 top-tier musicians from all over the world with names like The Kingston Trio, The American String Quartet, Boston Brass and Ralph Stanley, for some 40 total performances.
The event is also attracting talent with an even broader international audience with the addition of the world-renowned Italian tenor Marcello Giordani, who agreed to join the Crested Butte Opera Young Artists Program as a mentor for young singers.
While the idea of the MCBPAC plan has been floating around for the past decade, it wasn’t until the CBMF partnered with the Mt. Crested Butte Downtown Development Authority in 2009 that the MCBPAC project got moving in the direction it’s heading today.
Both the town and CBMF hold “presenting organization” status and there’s room for more, with Crested Butte Mountain Resort likely to sign on soon. Buck stresses that once the MCBPAC is built, the value it will add to the entire valley, not just Mt. Crested Butte.
 “It’s been proven that amenities attract residents,” Buck says.
And with the proposal for a 23,000-square-foot expansion to the Center for the Arts in Crested Butte on the table, the MCBPAC board wants the community to know that there is a need for expanded performing arts facilities in the valley, even at that level.
In a “Shared Interest Statement,” the Arts Alliance of the East River Valley says the idea of building an expanded performing arts center in Crested Butte was abandoned because the size of the needed building was simply too big for the town and its architectural constraints.
“Members of the [Center for the Arts] board and staff communicate regularly with the MCBPAC board about plans and progress,” the statement says, adding that both non-profits try to join forces in working with architects and fundraising consultants to avoid duplication.
The two projects are planned to complement each other with rehearsal space—something the valley needs desperately, according to Curry—as well as with venues of different sizes.
“[The Center for the Arts] is headed down a different path. They’re not competing with us, but it is confusing for people,” Curry says. “Both support the other’s project and it’s exciting that both of these can happen in a community that supports the arts like this one.”