Old West to meet new at downtown art museum
Aug 22, 2007 By Frank Jacobson
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As interim director of the proposed Museum of Western Art, Jacobson is charged with leading a campaign to take the concept of a museum devoted to telling the story of the fabled Wild West and make it a reality in downtown Scottsdale.
After some 25 years of discussion and a few failed attempts in getting the project under way, Jacobson - who first became involved with the project earlier this decade in his former role as CEO of the Scottsdale Cultural Council - said plans for the proposed $35 million museum are in full swing.
"The concept will be Old West meets New West," said Jacobson, describing a vision of a high-tech, experiential museum that will allow visitors to interactively trace back the steps of the people and events that helped shape the West and look at how the modern day "West" in an urban metropolis is evolving.
The concept stemmed from a study conducted this past winter by the California-based management consulting firm AMS Planning and Research Corp.
It was jointly funded with city money and private donations.
Preliminary plans call for a 43,000-square-foot, multilevel structure on city land located between Goldwater Boulevard and First Street that would feature a number of components, including interactive exhibits, artwork, a Western experience theater and a great hall.
City officials and Scottsdale community members agree the proposed museum has the potential to become a must-see destination attraction.
They say there isn't another museum of its proposed caliber in Arizona.
While others focus on American Indian history or Western exhibits, the proposed Museum of Western Art aspires to encapsulate the West's history on a much larger scale.
"Travel experiences are all about stories. This museum can bring our story to life all under one roof," said Rachel Sacco, president and CEO of the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Sacco said bureau surveys indicate visitors have a strong desire to learn about the real West behind what they've seen romanticized on the big screen and in books.
Residents are also interested in learning about the past, present and future of life here in the Sonoran Desert, she said.
Officials expect the international interest in the lore behind the West's cowboys, Indians and trailblazing pioneers to give the local economy an added boost.
"We've always seen (the museum) as a potential economic engine for the southern portion of downtown," said former City Councilman Ned O'Hearn, vice chairman of the proposed museum's board of trustees.
"I think the plan we have now is by far the best," commented former City Councilman Jim Bruner, chairman of the proposed museum's board of trustees.
Bruner, who became involved in the discussions more than two decades ago while he served on the City Council, has seen the project's ups and downs over the years.
The idea to build another museum in Scottsdale originally was born out of the city's downtown redevelopment plans in the '90s.
About $20,000 square feet of land was set aside along with $3 million of earmarked city funds for a new museum.
By 2002, the amount set aside for the museum grew by another $4.5 million from the city's tourism development commission, through a city-approved bed tax.
A failed attempt to partner with the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo., earlier this decade temporarily set the project back.
Scottsdale business owners say they're hopeful the new plan will continue to move forward.
Abe Hays, owner of Arizona West Galleries on East Main Street, said a Western-themed art museum would be an "enormous asset to the community."
"It will be the most important addition to the art community in Scottsdale's history.
"The value goes way beyond benefiting the art galleries. It will benefit the educational and business communities and the travel industry," said Hays, adding he and other Scottsdale-based art gallery owners have made contributions to private fundraising efforts for the museum.
There's still much to be solved before residents and visitors can entertain thoughts of a groundbreaking, Jacobson said.
The museum's board of trustees is conducting a nationwide search for a director to take the reins from Jacobson.
There's still the question of where the art and artifacts will come from for the inaugural exhibits. And there's the ongoing issue of fundraising - the project has an estimated price tag of $35 million.
About $30 million would pay for the design and building and $5 million would start an endowment, according to 2006 cost estimates.
Jacobson said a 2009 groundbreaking and 2011 opening would be a "best case scenario."
The next step in the process is a City Council vote Sept. 4 to amend the contract with Phoenix-based Jones Studio, the project's chosen architect, and appropriate city funds to cover the hiring of an exhibition design firm, which would devise a plan for the proposed museum's interactive exhibits.
A contract with a firm was being negotiated by the museum's board of trustees at press time. A cost estimate was unavailable.
[From www.eastvalleytribune.com] |
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