Carrboro hopes to incubate arts and entertainment with new district

The town of Carrboro and The Carrboro ArtsCenter are collaborating to revamp to way the area thinks about its arts economy.

The Board of Aldermen has been working with Art Menius, executive director of The ArtsCenter, to develop a downtown cultural arts and entertainment district. The plan has been in motion since November 2012 and aims to strengthen the existing downtown arts businesses.

The district, which would stretch from West Rosemary Street down Jones Ferry Road in the heart of Carrboro’s downtown, would be designed to encourage new arts-related development. A number of arts businesses already sit in the planned district area.

At Tuesday’s meeting, aldermen followed up on the project, discussing — but holding off on passing — a resolution that would affirm their approval of the project by allocating $15,000 more to the planning process.

Menius also presented a draft for a National Endowment for the Arts grant to help kick-start the district as well as a detailed outline of the two-phased project.

A work in progress

The aldermen passed a resolution on Nov. 13, 2012 in which they said they would partner with The ArtsCenter to apply for a $50,000 NEA “Our Town” grant to establish the district. The aldermen also said they would match up to $40,000 of the NEA grant if the application was accepted.

Before hearing back from the NEA, the Orange County Arts Commission also provided a $1,500 grant, and the Strowd Roses Foundation — a nonprofit that supports Chapel Hill and Carrboro projects — provided $9,800. But the NEA rejected Carrboro’s “Our Town” grant for 2013.

The aldermen decided to continue planning for the district and reapply for the NEA grant in January 2014 — both the Orange County Arts Commission and the Strowd Roses Foundation agreed that Menius and the town could use the grant monies for the planning effort.

At the Oct. 8 Board of Aldermen meeting, Menius discussed the preliminary plans for the district in-depth.

“We’re in the beginning of a process to figure out a lot of answers, and we’re doing the work,” he said.

Missing pieces

The development of the district still has a ways to go. Menius said many plans have not yet been solidified.

“A lot of this is lining up the questions and starting to figure out how to answer them,” he said.

Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton said the project is a good and interesting idea for the town, but he said he wants to know more about it.

“It’s definitely an exciting idea, and there’s a lot of great things that are a part of the proposal,” he said. “I think we need to see more of the specifics. With funding, (we need to know) what tax dollars are going to support the project and how?”

Although he said the proposed cultural arts and entertainment district would benefit the town, he also said it’s important to note where funds would come from.

To address aldermen concerns over funding, Menius presented both a draft of the 2014 NEA grant proposal and the project’s proposed budget at Tuesday’s meeting. In all, the project is set to cost $115,100 to establish.

The grant proposal said that the planning committee hopes to have plans for the district finalized by summer 2015.

A range of responses

Chris Beacham, chairman of the Carrboro Arts Committee, said Carrboro is the ideal place for a district because of the vibrancy of downtown.

“By defining it, the community would have means to make it easier to live and sell their work in the arts district,” he said

Jesse Kalisher, a photographer and gallery owner in Carrboro, said he would love for his business to be a part of this district.

Menius said establishing the district will only benefit Carrboro’s economy, seeing as it already depends on a lot of arts businesses.

“If we don’t take care of what makes Carrboro special, what drives our economy, we’ll find ourselves without that economic drive or without the lovely community we have.”

arts@dailytarheel.com