Arts center proposal: Room for compromise possible

FARMINGTON – Following a meeting today with the library’s board of trustees in which concerns were expressed for the proposed Emery Community Arts Center, University of Maine at Farmington officials said there will be a review of the plans to see if changes can be made for a compromise.

The public library board issued a statement on Monday that they had issues with the close proximity of the proposed arts center and the 106-year-old library’s building noting, “the current plan for the northeast quadrant will do irreparable harm to the integrity of the library building envelope and structure and to library functions.”

On Tuesday, test bores for subterranean samples were taken in areas where the building is planned to be built for the required geo-technical study. Librarian Melanie Coombs said she felt the library’s interior stone foundation wall vibrate when the drilling hit something hard, possibly bedrock, and worried that vibrations during construction too close to the library will harm its granite foundation.

The library has suffered from chronic water leaks but work two years ago stopped the damage and for the first year anyone can remember, the lower level of the library has been dry for a year.

“The library trustees do have legitimate concerns that need to be looked at,” said Theo Kalikow, UMF’s president. Standing by a stake where the northeast corner of the arts center currently proposed at about 15 feet from the library, Kalikow, surrounded by Farmington Planning Board members, interested residents and members of the art center building committee, said architects and engineers working on the arts center and those who who have worked on the library’s renovations would get together and study the design, its possible impact on the library and work on a solution.

The proposed glass-and-white-cedar-sided 14,000 square foot, L-shaped arts center has been designed to wrap around the north and west sides of Alumni Theatre. Multipurpose spaces in the center include a 100-seat performance area, studio rooms and an indoor courtyard which doubles as a lobby and exhibition space that encompasses the current facade of Alumni Theatre. Handicap accessible ramps run into Alumni Theatre and are throughout the new building, along with an elevator and additional bathrooms to be added. A gift of $5 million will fund the entire building project.

Design concerns about the arts center also came from the Maine Historical Preservation Commission in a letter the planning board discussed at their July 13 meeting that claimed the design proposal violates guidelines set forth under the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

Specifically, the commission believes that the lobby portion of the center, which would be placed in front of the theater and would contain a significant amount of glass to allow the original theater facade to be seen from Academy Street, would “fundamentally alter the historic character of this building and its distinctive features.” (For details on the commission’s concerns, click here)

Arts Center architect, Scott Slarsky of DesignLAB Architects, disagreed with the commission’s interpretation of the standards. He said any addition to a historically significant building is that it not mimic or add material that is similar to the original. He added “glass is often used to bridge the old with the new” when buildings are expanded.

In an informational meeting held by UMF before the planning board’s site review, resident Bill Carhart said he was worried about the weight of snow on the glass but it was pointed out that the glass front is surrounded by solid construction, including a solid-structured roof constructed to withstand this area’s snow loads. The glass fronts the north entrance to the building so the circa 1931 Alumni Theater’s facade can not only be seen but preserved, Slarsky said.

The Farmington Historic Society’s board also spoke out against the proposed arts center’s plans, submitting a letter today to the planning board detailing its concerns with the design and location. Noting the town has a National Historic District and 13 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, “the ECAC design is designated ‘contemporary’ by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. This design does not fit sandwiched between two of Farmington’s most prestigious buildings – the beautiful Beaux-Arts style library and Queen Anne type style of Merrill Hall,” the letter said.

Local society president, Taffy Davis attended the meeting and asked if other sites had been considered. Kalikow said eight other sites had been studied but none of them would work or could be afforded. Utilizing the location proposed not only allows for a new arts center but also gives Alumni Theater handicapped accessibility and a large new lobby area for patrons to wait inside and art to be exhibited.

Also attending the meeting today, Brook Stoddard, professor of art and architecture at the University of Maine at Augusta who served for 10 years on the Maine Historical Preservation Commission, said the commission’s job often includes worrying about the compatibility of new building with old structures. Glass is traditionally used to connect the old with the new in architecture, noting such structures as I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre in Paris, France, and Quincy Market in Boston. He added “it has been used effectively here as well. Glass brings the facade into better focus. A lot of care has been taken to enhance the original facade.”

The planning board members were given a tour of the site and will take into account the issues surrounding the building project such as drainage, parking, emergency access and abutters’ concerns, said town code enforcement officer Steve Kaiser.

Currently, the UMF parking lot situated in front of Alumni Theater has 20 spaces designated for faculty and staff. Of those, 17 will be taken out to make room for the building and an open space or “arts quad,” with three spaces remaining for handicapped accessibility. Parking, said Bob Lawrence, director for UMF’s Facility Management Department, can be accessed at the 20 reserved spaces for UMF when the new Mallett School is built a block away, the parking lot across the street and the parking lot behind the Psychology Department’s building which will border the south and east sides of the new arts center.

Twenty feet running along the south side of Merrill Hall will allow for emergency access said Fire Chief Terry Bell who attended the site review.

Planners will wait for the geotechnical study to be completed, along with studying the other issues surrounding the building proposal, as will the state’s Department of Environmental Protection which also will need to approve the project.

The planning board set a public hearing on the project for Monday, Aug. 10 downstairs at the municipal building. UMF has set public informational meetings for 7:30 a.m., Friday, July 31 and 7 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 5, both to be held in the conference room at UMF’s Ferro Alumni Center.