County supervisors last night advanced plans to develop an eastern Loudoun art center, allocating $500,000 for the initial design.
The approval comes after staff members and representatives of the consultant group Page on Jan. 14 presented their final report to the board’s finance committee following a two-year study of options to provide more space for the performing and visual arts.
The study team developed three options of different scales, ranging from an arts campus that would include a concert hall, two theater spaces, arts workshops and galleries with an outdoor plaza to a community arts center that would have a multi-purpose performance hall along with arts workshops and gallery spaces. The projects came with a price tag of between $219 million and $158 million, with annual operating costs ranging from $5.2 million to $4.8 million.
At the recommendation of the finance committee, the board approved moving forward with the mid-range option that would include an 800-900 seat multi-purpose performance hall, a 300-350-seat black box theater, art gallery space, and art making space at a projected construction cost of $181.3 million and $4.7 million annually.
Members of Loudoun’s art community have been requesting a facility of some kind for a while.
“Our dream is to have a place for patrons to experience various forms of performing and visual art,” Citizens for the Arts in Eastern Loudoun Representative Bobbie Christman said during the Jan. 22 meeting. “Our dream is for a place to give our youth an opportunity to develop their art participation, for families to have share experiences, for adults young and old to have a date night, and for seniors to enjoy the support of the arts. Our dream is for our talented artists to have a dedicated center to call home and expand their audiences.”
The center could also serve as a venue for the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra and other performing groups.
“I’ve had the privilege of serving this community since 2020,” LSO Music Director Hayden Denesha said. “I’ve seen the growth, the two-fold overnight enthusiasm in the arts seems to increase year after year.”
Having a dedicated space would mean the organization would no longer need to use Loudoun County Public Schools for practices and performances.
“We, like our other organizations, also need rehearsal space and other rooms to do our good work in the community. For example, we serve over 250 youth orchestra students,” Denesha said.
Supervisors Koran T. Saines (D-Sterling) and Juli E. Briskman (D-Algonkian) said they would prefer to endorse the larger campus option.
Supervisor Kristen C. Umstattd (D-Leesburg) voiced concerns that spending this amount of money on a “life enhancing” project would take from funds that could be spent on “lifesaving” services.
“Clearly this is a life enhancing project, but it is not as critical as a number of other responsibilities we have toward the community, whether that be food, shelter, the schools, medical care, etc.” she said.
But Supervisor Sylvia R. Glass (D-Broad Run) said experiencing the arts affects every aspect of life.
“The arts can bring many benefits to a community including social, economic and educational strength. It unifies communities. It reduces loneliness. It inspires empathy. It will have economic benefits of supporting jobs, driving tourism, generating tax revenue. The educational benefits are fostering creativity, communicating knowledge. The health benefits are improving physical health and improving mental health,” she said.
Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles) said moving forward at this stage did not commit the board to building the facility.
“It is going to help us flesh out and produce essentially a concept plan of what this really is, which could be used to help find a private partner. There’s a long road ahead on this,” he said.
He agreed with the prioritization of funds referenced by Umstattd but said that doesn’t mean the county can’t allocate any money for life enhancing services.
“Let’s go forward for now, let’s get this concept, let’s find those partners, if they exist. If they don’t exist, that’s going to tell us something, too,” he said.
The motion to move forward with planning, preliminary design and site assessments passed 7-1 with Umstattd opposed and Supervisor Caleb A. Kershner (R-Catoctin) absent.