The Emporia Arts Council plans to build a new arts center and is more than halfway to its $2.6 million goal.
The arts council made the fund-raising campaign public today. The $1,430,000 that has been raised so far includes a $330,000 challenge grant from the Oklahoma-based Mabee Foundation, the same non-profit that once helped fund the Granada Theatre’s restoration. To get the grant, the rest of the money must be raised by April 1.
If the fund-raising succeeds, the new arts center would be located just north of the Granada, in the building currently occupied by Dayton’s Hobbies & Crafts and Tallgrass Art & Frame. Both businesses would relocate elsewhere in town.
“What’s really exciting is we’ll be maximizing the possibilities,” said Melissa Windsor, director of the Emporia Arts Council. “Located next to the Granada, we have the opportunity to do many things together.”
The project revives a long-held dream of the local arts community to create an arts and entertainment district. A facilities study first suggested the need for a new arts council building about six or seven years ago.
“It just enhances downtown Emporia,” Windsor said. “It enhances the community’s businesses and restaurants as well as providing something for the public to enjoy.”
The arts council began its “quiet campaign” for funds about a year and a half ago.
The two-story, 18,000 square-foot arts center would include gallery space, a full-service kitchen, larger classrooms, a clay studio, theater space and a scene shop. Windsor said it could be three years before the arts council is in the new building.
No plans have been announced for the existing building at 618 Mechanic St., which is city-owned. Windsor estimated its size at around 3,000 square feet.
“I know the building is old and we’ve had some mechanical problems,” City Manager Matt Zimmerman said. “We’ve been holding on to it until we can make a long-term decision.”
Nothing will be decided until the arts council decides it’s ready to leave, Zimmerman said.
“It’s certainly a viable building and given the number of agencies we have in town, there may be another good use for it,” he said. “When we know there’s a firm move-out date, then we’ll start making some decisions for what’s the best use of the property.”
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