Carrboro’s new ArtsCenter is one step closer to becoming a reality after its Conditional Use Permit was approved at a town council meeting earlier this month.

The ArtsCenter has been in the heart of Carrboro since its founding in 1974. It was initially housed in the same building as Armadillo Grill and then Carr Mill Mall before settling into its building on East Main Street, where it’s been since the mid-1980s.

The ArtsCenter is set to build a new home across from OWASA near the intersection of Jones Ferry Road and Barnes Street following the purchase of the 1.3-acre site in January of 2019.

Plans for the $5.5-million-dollar center are far different than the building it currently occupies on East Main Street, which used to be a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. The new site will include studio and performance space as well as approximately 40 parking spots. The ArtsCenter spent two years looking for suitable land in Carrboro before securing a contract for the current site.

“It’s going to be a beautiful, beautiful building,” Lavelle said. “There’s going to be some parking on site and a lot of bike parking,” said Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle.

Prior to the approval of the Conditional Use Permit, Lavelle said the ArtsCenter’s years-long goal of a new home in Carrboro was dependent on the change of a stormwater rule. She said there was a delay in the approval of the ArtsCenter’s Conditional Use Permit because the project site sits on a “challenged piece of property.”

The property currently meets two of the town’s three stormwater requirements — for controlling peak runoff and for water quality treatment — but exceeds the annual runoff volume limit.

For the third requirement regarding annual runoff volume, however, the council found that the ArtsCenter complied with the town’s stormwater volume provisions “to the maximum extent practicable,” allowing the project to move forward at its meeting on March 9.

“We had to kind of consider all the stormwater requirements that we have in place,” Lavelle said. “It was impracticable for them to completely meet one of our technical stormwater requirements, but in the view of a majority of the council we felt like it was still the right place, the right time and the right piece of property.”

According to the ArtsCenter’s executive director, the new two-story building will take advantage of its natural setting, incorporating arts into the environment and preserving over 30 percent of the existing trees – largely surrounding a stream that cuts across the eastern half of the site.

Concept design of Carrboro’s new ArtsCenter. (Photo via EVOKE Studio Architecture)

“It’s going to be great,” Lavelle said. “There’s going to be a lot of room for programming, it’s going to look beautiful – they’re going to work with the community and neighbors,” Lavelle said. “That was another aspect of the plan that they really had to work on – how are they going to accommodate the neighbors that will undoubtedly see a difference in their neighborhood.”

Lavelle said some neighbors are concerned about both vehicle and foot traffic that will arise from the center. She said the ArtsCenter has held several community meetings to address resident concerns.

Learn more about the ArtCenter’s new home here.

 

 

Lead photo via EVOKE Studio Architecture.


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