Neighbors expressing concerns about Center for the Arts expansion proposal

Could site still be moved?

by Mark Reaman

A small flurry of public comments about the proposed Crested Butte Center for the Arts expansion proposal has been directed at the Crested Butte Town Council this week. While no formal application has been submitted to the Board of Zoning and Architectural Review (BOZAR), preliminary discussions have been taking place between the Center’s design team, town staff and BOZAR members.

The team has presented a design that includes a total of 38,000 square feet divided between two buildings connected by a “spine.” Roof design is in limbo and parking is proposed for Seventh Street but the proposal is in flux. A narrative traffic flow and parking plan has been requested by the town. The proposal presented to BOZAR excluded the Trailhead Children’s Museum that had been touted as an original partner.

“As I understand it, the building envelope and one million dollars [the pledge from the town] were approved under the assumption that a big part of the expansion was going to support local, community programming. Most of the arts programming/classes in this community are provided by the School of Dance and the Trailhead,” neighbor Janae Pritchett wrote the council.

“As a taxpayer and citizen, I respectfully request that the Town Council encourage the Center to reconsider its decision to eliminate the Trailhead Children’s Museum from the new building,” wrote Alice Jennison. “If the Center does not include the Trailhead (thereby changing its proposal), then I believe the Town Council has an obligation to rescind the $1,000,000 town grant and request that the Center present a new proposal and a new request for money. Perhaps a smaller amount should then be granted to the Center and the remaining funds should be granted to support the Trailhead Museum in finding a permanent home in our community. “

A half dozen other electronic comments about the expansion proposal were received by the town early this week as well. Those letters focused on use of the building, traffic and the site of the proposed Center expansion. At the Monday, December 7 Town Council meeting, several citizens showed up to speak during time allocated to public comments. Traffic, safety and site location were the main focus of comments.

Crested Butte town manager Todd Crossett told the crowd that the process was going through BOZAR and that board would be making decisions on many of those issues, including parking, size and massing. He made it clear to the council that since an appeal of a BOZAR decision could be made to the council they were limited in what positions they could take on the issues but he made it clear that the site selection was a legislative decision and fair game for council discussion with the public.

The previous council had passed resolutions of support for the Center and committed money, in-kind contributions and a specific footprint site for the new building in the Town Park.

“I think everyone agrees that the traffic, parking and safety issues are half-baked at this time,” said neighbor Ben Pritchett. “There are a lot of issues with those topics and a lot of compromises being made. The elephant in the room is [Pitsker] Field. The Center is an eight-digit dollar project, while moving the field to the south would probably cost five digits. That is small compared to a big expansion project. I think the council should reconsider moving the baseball field and move the building over by the tennis courts. The neighborhood is not psyched to see the parking, so allow the site to shift and weigh all the issues.”

“There are obviously a lot of issues with the Center growing that much and working in the park there,” said long-time resident John Holder. “I would suggest you reconsider putting it on Gothic Field. That was the recommendation of the working group that looked at all this five or seven years ago. I’d like everyone to consider that. It solves a lot of issues.”

“I echo those comments,” said Lauren Bock. “The size of the proposed Center is such that it will increase traffic to the neighborhood. It’s not too late to step back and look at the overall plan. People are driving a lot more in Crested Butte and those neighborhoods are already seeing a lot more pressure. This will add to it.”

Jafar Tabaian asked the council to really look at the Town Park as the proper place. “Now that the size of the proposed building is known, is this still the proper site?” he asked.

“I ask that this new council reel it in and slow everything down,” suggested neighbor Elliot Stern. “At the current speed this is progressing it is a shit show. Slow it down. I understand the BOZAR situation, but to do it at this expedited rate is too fast.”

Mayor Glenn Michel suggested that the citizens attend the BOZAR meetings and provide comment to the BOZAR board as well.

Center executive director Jenny Birnie said Tuesday that the board of directors and the design team are aware of the big issues like parking and traffic flow and they are working with the town through the BOZAR process to figure out solutions to the issues.

“The concern is the site question and the Center’s design team people I talked with feel that ship has sailed. Is there a way to revisit the council’s site decision?” asked Pritchett.

Crossett said the council last year approved a building footprint for the Town Park site. “The public that showed up at that time didn’t want Pitsker Field moved,” he said. “The council has given the Center a green light. It could theoretically be undone but the Center has been working with and spending a lot of money on that site.”

“What would it take to appeal that site location?” asked Pritchett. “It is the elephant in the room. Pitsker could just be moved over a bit and make a big difference.”

Crossett explained that the council approved a footprint for the building but never approved a maximum square footage. However, council understood the building could come in over 30,000 square feet. Anything much more than 40,000 sqare feet and Crossett said the council would likely want to re-examine the proposal.

Later in the meeting councilman Jim Schmidt said there had been a lot of history in the selection of that site. “The whole process has taken years,” he said. “Working groups suggested building by the tennis courts and it got kicked out. Another suggestion was Gothic Field and it got kicked out. There was a lot of history about the Center location discussion.”

It appears there may be more. A formal application for the Center expansion is expected early in January.