
{"id":3307,"date":"2008-08-21T07:08:23","date_gmt":"2008-08-21T15:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=3307"},"modified":"2008-08-21T07:08:23","modified_gmt":"2008-08-21T15:08:23","slug":"main-st-plan-alters-cultural-landmarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2008\/08\/21\/main-st-plan-alters-cultural-landmarks\/","title":{"rendered":"Main St. plan alters cultural landmarks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>As project proceeds The ArtsCenter, Cat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Cradle look to the future<\/p>\n<p>by <strong>Kirk Ross<\/strong><br \/>\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Editor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s note: This is the second part of a series on the 300 East Main Street project. The stories can be found on The Citizen website at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\">www.carrborocitizen.com\/main<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>CARRBORO  \u00e2\u20ac\u201d It might be called 300 East Main, but the massive redevelopment project poised for review by the Carrboro Board of Aldermen includes several other addresses up and down two blocks of Main Street, extending from Boyd Street to Roberson Street.<\/p>\n<p>And though the changes planned are considerable all along the stretch, the namesake address has special meaning for the town in large part because two of the present occupiers of 300 East Main represent for many the cultural center of Carrboro.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nThe ArtsCenter and Cat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Cradle, longtime venues and a major draw for visitors and residents to downtown, are in a unique situation, with both the developer and the town keenly interested in seeing them prosper in the new surroundings.<\/p>\n<p>Mayor Mark Chilton said Wednesday that, all along, the developer has tried to find a way to develop the site without losing the current tenants. When it comes to the two cultural institutions at the location, he said, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also an understanding that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not just economically important, but a key to the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153vibe.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Board of Aldermen member Jacquie Gist says it is critical that the ArtsCenter and Cat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Cradle thrive in the new development.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Carrboro would not be what it is without the ArtsCenter,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was the first step in our becoming what we are now. The Cradle has certainly added to that. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine Carrboro without them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re integral to 300 East Main,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Laura Van Sant, a partner in developer Main Street Properties of Chapel Hill and the LLC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spokesperson. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We want them to expand and be successful.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The relationship of the arts nonprofit to the development has a long history.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The ArtsCenter is the only reason Main Street Properties owns this property,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Van Sant said, referring to a deal struck in the 1980s when the original group of partners, which included ArtsCenter executive director Jacques Menache, put together a deal for the shopping center at 300 East Main St. and moved The ArtsCenter to the location.<\/p>\n<p>Menache, who was criticized over the deal at the time, is no longer a partner in Main Street Properties, but he has since returned to The ArtsCenter, joining its board of directors last year.<\/p>\n<p>The history is significant because as a result of the arrangement, The ArtsCenter owns its footprint, 14,000-square-foot building and the airspace above it.<\/p>\n<p>ArtsCenter executive director Jon Wilner said he looks forward to The ArtsCenter being in the middle of a major new center in downtown.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Judging from what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard over the years from Main Street Partners, this is certainly not going to be another Streets at Southpoint,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be a Carrboro environment. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pretty exciting\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Wilner said there are challenges though. While the nonprofit is certainly advantaged by the fact that it owns its own space, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been an additional layer of complexity to working out how to expand.<\/p>\n<p>The ArtsCenter is studying how best to approach a capital campaign. An open house and discussion held last fall gathered ideas, but the nonprofit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s leadership is hesitant to start a campaign until it has its development staff and infrastructure in place.<\/p>\n<p>Wilner said there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s consensus that the current building is not adequate and that the nonprofit would need about 40,000 square feet, much of that to expand its venues and house classroom space for a growing number of youth-oriented programs. The working cost estimate of the expansion would be between $7 and $10 million.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how a new building would fit on the property and work with the rest of the development. <\/p>\n<p>As yet, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no agreement between The ArtsCenter and Main Street Properties on exactly where a new ArtsCenter might be located, what goes in it and how construction will happen.<\/p>\n<p>That, Wilner said, has made it difficult to launch a capital campaign.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t launch a capital campaign until you know what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for, and what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for includes where it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be exactly and what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be in it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Placeholder<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the plans submitted to the town, there are several placeholder buildings intended to give those reviewing the project an idea of the rough size of each building proposed so that parking requirements and other infrastructure can be determined. For now, The ArtsCenter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s placeholder is a 60,000-square-foot building, nearly three times the size of its current space.<\/p>\n<p>Wilner said that may seem like a lot given that The ArtsCenter has identified the need for 40,00 square feet. But there are ideas in the works which could require more space. He recently held another round of discussions with county and school-system leaders about possible partnerships with The ArtsCenter. Among the ideas being discussed are sharing a new building with a downtown library and an arts magnet middle school.<\/p>\n<p>Although Wilner says both ideas right now are longshots, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s concerned that if one or both of them came to fruition the 60,000-square-foot limit could be exceeded. A new building with both a school and a library could require up to 95,000 square feet.<\/p>\n<p>Van Sant said nothing is set in stone and that Main Street Properties would try to find a way to accommodate an expansion should it come. But she acknowledged that The ArtsCenter is in a chicken-and-egg situation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A two-story Cradle<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Slightly less complicated is a proposal to move Cat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Cradle, now about 10 years old in its present location, to a new site with enough room for a second floor.<\/p>\n<p>Van Sant said one scenario calls for the Cradle to move to a five-story building located in the area where The ArtsCenter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eastern-most parking lot is now located. Restaurant and retail space are slated for the ground floor, Van Sant said. The Cradle would occupy the second and third floors of the building with a main floor and a mezzanine or balcony that could be closed off for smaller shows and opened up to allow the venue to host larger acts. <\/p>\n<p>Cradle owner Frank Heath said he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s optimistic about the idea and is working toward a way to get the construction and planning accomplished. With a long series of discussions on the project already under his belt, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s practical about the timing though. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s amazing, he said, about how long the process takes.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve talked about it for a lot of years,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If the original plan had gone through, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d already be rocking in a new location.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As project proceeds The ArtsCenter, Cat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Cradle look to the future by Kirk Ross Staff Writer Editor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s note: This is the second part of a series on the 300 East Main Street project. The stories can be found on The Citizen website at www.carrborocitizen.com\/main CARRBORO \u00e2\u20ac\u201d It might be called 300 East Main, but the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}