Mount Pleasant Town Council inched forward in their plans to bring a community arts center to the town. At the regularly scheduled Nov. 14 town council meeting, the nine-person governing body unanimously voted to move forward with plans to hire an arts director for the center while simultaneously searching for a location for the future arts center.

Earlier this year, the Culture, Arts and Pride Commission completed a study and originally recommended that in order to successfully establish a community arts center, the town should hire an artistic director/operator for the center through an RFP process before leasing or purchasing a space. During the council meeting, Councilmember G.M. Whitley expressed that waiting to find a location for the community arts center could pose a problem.

“My concern with waiting until council finds a place is that we’ll never find a place … We all have other jobs, we all have other responsibilities and none of us is fully dedicated to seeking out a location and also none of us has necessarily the expertise and knowledge to know exactly what kind of facility would be needed,” Whitley said.

Drafting and putting out solicitations for an RFP could take 90 days, Recreation Director Steve Gergick told the Health, Recreation and Events Committee on Nov. 6. Interviewing and hiring someone would be an added several months to the timeline.

The community arts center will likely be a hub for both visual and performing artists. The upcoming Rifle Range Road Park project has space dedicated to the arts, Whitley mentioned. In the interest of time and moving quickly on the project, the council on Tuesday night moved to direct town staff, with Economic Development Manager Matt Brady leading the charge, to be on the hunt for an appropriate space to house the community arts center in the meantime.

Councilman John Iacofano referenced the economic benefit that the community arts center could bring to the town along with its support to the local arts community.

“There’s a serious economic development portion of this that, if placed in the right part of town, will help the town and restaurants and things thrive as well. So I think it’s great that Mr. Brady would be on it because of that economic development portion,” Iacofano said.