The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“They need to know how it’s going to be used”
After a survey of local leaders from around the East River Valley, the Mt. Crested Butte Performing Arts Center board of directors has a better idea of how the future facility should be designed to best meet the community’s needs.
The president of Houston-based Franks and Associates, Bud Franks, who is advising the MCBPAC capital campaign, said it is common practice for organizations to re-imagine the design of an envisioned facility so it can meet people’s needs and expectations.
“We did the original study four years ago and we always recommend you reexamine where you are, especially when you’re starting the design process. The board had to make certain utilization assumptions in the beginning and the reason for that is so they could give clear direction to the architect about the design,” Franks said. “They need to know how it’s going to be used.”
But after giving people plenty of time to mull over the proposed project, Franks said his team took a series of survey questions to 35 leaders in the local community to see where the project stands.
“What we’ve found is there’s more demand for a special events facility than originally assumed. What that informs us of is that we need to be able to accommodate those kinds of things with more lobby space or meeting space,” Frank said, noting the design would be revised to reflect those changes. “We preach to our clients to include as many flexible spaces for revenue-generating activities as possible.”
The non-profit MCBPAC organization hopes to keep generating revenue through donations, with the goal of raising another $5.7 million over the next three years, on top of the $17 million that’s been pledged to date.
