{"id":2447384,"date":"2019-08-10T01:20:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-10T07:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/consultants-second-wheeler-facility-not-feasible-on-downtown-aspen-parcel\/"},"modified":"2019-08-10T01:20:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-10T07:20:00","slug":"consultants-second-wheeler-facility-not-feasible-on-downtown-aspen-parcel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/consultants-second-wheeler-facility-not-feasible-on-downtown-aspen-parcel\/","title":{"rendered":"Consultants: Second Wheeler facility not feasible on downtown Aspen parcel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Aspen City Council decided on Tuesday to fund a needs assessment for an arts facility or performance space next to the Wheeler Opera House on two parcels the city owns. One is a small open space parcel that functions like a park and the other is a parking lot behind it.<\/strong>
David Krause\/The Aspen Times<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Preliminary findings from a consultant hired by the Wheeler Opera House show that it is nearly impossible to build a second performance facility next door on an open space parcel.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom an architecture and engineering aspect, the space has some challenges,\u201d said Alex Keen of Keen Independent Research<\/a>, a Denver-based consulting firm. \u201cIt would be extremely difficult and expensive, and operationally challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keen was hired along with Theatre Projects<\/a>, one of the largest theater consultants in the country, to examine the feasibility of a performance space that would be connected to the Wheeler.<\/p>\n

The study<\/a> came at the direction of Aspen City Council over a year ago amid discussion<\/a> about whether to repurpose around $1 million a year from the Wheeler fund for specific projects related to the arts and culture segment of the community.<\/p>\n

The Wheeler has roughly $32 million in an endowment and is funded through the 0.5% real estate transfer tax that voters originally approved in 1979.<\/p>\n

Council agreed in May 2018 that the intent of voters was for the tax to someday pay for more performance space.<\/p>\n

But it likely won\u2019t be next door to the Wheeler for a variety of reasons, including that building a second facility would force the opera house to close for as long as three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just not feasible to build there without impacting the Wheeler\u2019s operations,\u201d said Gena Buhler, executive director of the opera house.<\/p>\n

The Wheeler\u2019s passenger and service elevators would have to serve the new building. That means they\u2019d have to be removed and then relocated, which would require a variance from the city\u2019s land-use code, according to Buhler.<\/p>\n

A second facility would negatively affect the loading area for the operation, as well as the egress for people coming in and out.<\/p>\n

Then there is the problem of what lurks below the open space parcel, which is jam-packed with utility and power lines and a large water line running down the middle, which would have to be rerouted.<\/p>\n

There have been numerous studies in the past for the potential of a second facility on that land but they were always looked at as a separate building.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey never brought in theater consultants to see how they are two buildings connected and how they function,\u201d Buhler said.<\/p>\n

The consultants presented their findings last month to the Wheeler board of directors, who were taken aback by what they determined.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board was shocked,\u201d Buhler said, adding that some members wanted to look at other locations for performance space, believing the community needs another 100- to 200-seat facility.<\/p>\n

Buhler told the board at its Aug. 7 meeting that she\u2019d rather use the remaining money of the $42,000 contract with the consultants, which includes the Florida-based firm, Venue Consulting<\/a>, to further examine the Wheeler\u2019s 20-year master plan and how much money is necessary to keep the historic building operating.<\/p>\n

That examination also will consider if there are funds available that can be used to support other arts and culture endeavors in the community, Buhler said.<\/p>\n

Venue Consulting also will provide an estimate of how much a second facility would cost to build and operate. It could be so expensive that it would exhaust the endowment fund, Buhler said.<\/p>\n

All of that information, plus more, is scheduled to be presented to City Council in September.<\/p>\n

Buhler said she also will float a \u201cWheeler Plaza\u201d concept by council. That involves transforming the parcel into a community space where there is rotating art installations with a nod<\/a> to the opera house\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll collaborate with the parks department and make something cool and beautiful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aspen City Council decided on Tuesday to fund a needs assessment for an arts facility or performance space next to the Wheeler Opera House on two parcels the city owns. One is a small open space parcel that functions like a park and the other is a parking lot behind it.David Krause\/The Aspen Times Preliminary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2447384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-24 18:29:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447384\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}