The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly got its first look at a pared-down plan for an arts complex in downtown Juneau on Monday night.
The new plan for the Willoughby Arts Complex includes an $18.8 million expansion of the Juneau Arts and Culture Center and no space for Perseverance Theatre, which quietly withdrew from the effort in late November.
Nancy DeCherney, executive director of the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council, told the Assembly on Monday that despite Perseverance’s withdrawal, the project is still going forward. She said the pARTnership, a group working on behalf of Perseverance and the JAHC, will go in hiatus and the JAHC will take full control of the project.
In a statement, Perseverance said, “It is not the right time for us to take on such a large new initiative to fundraise and build the building, or make such a long-term financial commitment to operating it.”
Speaking to the Assembly, DeCherney shared the results of a financial feasibility study performed by the McDowell Group for the pARTnership. Redrafted after Perseverance dropped out, the document looks at a 24,000 square-foot expansion of the JACC, which would still stand after a facelift. The new construction would take place in the parking area between the JACC and Centennial Hall and include a 300-seat community theater as well as “an array of spaces that support the theater, enhance the experience for clientele, and augment revenue generation potential,” according to the study.
“We’re adding on the new portion and revamping the old portion,” DeCherney said.
The last item in the project’s description refers to a cafe, beer and wine vendor, and food service.
Previous plans included a second theater to accommodate Perseverance, and that larger design was itself a skinnier version of pre-planning ideas that stretched as large as an $80 million arts and convention complex that would have also encompassed Centennial Hall.
To date, about $82,000 has been spent on the effort, with most of that money coming from a $250,000 appropriation paid for with a special 1 percent sales tax in the City and Borough of Juneau.
DeCherney said money for construction will be sought through private donors, and the resulting complex would be owned and operated by the JAHC.
As a result, the JAHC is seeking clarification from the city on the legal status of the existing JACC, which is owned by the City and Borough of Juneau but operated by the JAHC. It is unclear how a JAHC-funded expansion would be handled given that ownership situation.
After the legal details are ironed out, DeCherney said a design competition will open for three Juneau architects, one Fairbanks architect and one from Anchorage to design the new facility. Fundraising also would begin in earnest.
