Public gets first look at proposed downtown Jasper Cultural Center

Water, soil and money
To get the site out of the 100-year flood plain — which was established before Patoka Reservoir was built — City Properties will need to raise the habitable floors up to 30 inches, a process Barry Alberts, a principal with City Properties Group, said is not a big deal and already built into the project’s budget.

As far as the soil, Alberts said environmental tests did not reveal any serious pollution. Topographic studies found that the soil is silty and sandy — squishy, if you will — so City Properties designed the footings to support the structure on their own, without the help of the soil. Such a design, Alberts said, makes any settling of the soil a non-issue.

Although the boards and City Properties have a preliminary schematic, the proposed cultural center is not for sure moving ahead yet. It all hinges on the library board’s property tax referendum that will appear on ballots for voters in the City of Jasper, Bainbridge Township, Jasper-Madison and Jasper-Boone voting precincts. If the referendum does not pass, the cultural center will not happen and there will be no remodeling of the current Jasper Public Library. The referendum question will ask voters to approve a bond of up to $6.5 million for the library’s portion of the cultural center. This would result in roughly a 5 cent increase in property taxes per $100 of assessed value. However, the library is fundraising to offset that increase. Currently, the library has raised $712,000 and is in talks with donors for more. The goal is $2 million.

The arts portion of the cultural center will be funded through economic development income tax funds. A bond supported by economic development income tax revenue does not need to be approved by a public referendum, like a property tax-supported bond does. The EDIT-supported bond is the same type of bond used to pay for the Jasper Youth Sports Complex. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has also designated $3.4 million in tax credit for the project, which will disappear if the library’s referendum does not pass.

Homage to history
The proposed Jasper Cultural Center will be an entirely new building that pays homage to the old building through wood materials and size. According to the schematic, the new building will take up almost the same foot print as the current Hoosier Desk structure.

“The more we began to look at the building, the more costly it became (to remodel),” Alberts said.

Plans for the new building feature wood trusses and floors to pay homage to Jasper’s history with the wood industry, and Alberts said there many wood-infused building materials, some being designed in Jasper, that could go into construction.

Jasper native Ashlyn Ackerman, a 2007 graduate of Jasper High School, is helping design the building as part of her job with City Properties. The goal of the design, she said, is to make the proposed cultural center an icon for downtown that ties Courthouse Square with the Patoka River area nearby.

“This is not just any building downtown,” she said. “This is the arts and library building.”

Shared space
Patrons would enter into a shared atrium space that includes community rooms with collapsible walls that can be adjusted to make small, medium or large meeting rooms, restrooms, a catering kitchen for events in the atrium space and a gift shop for the arts and library.

Arts Board President Mike Jones pointed out that the shared space could produce revenue for the arts commission and library. Members of the public would be able to rent the atrium (and meeting rooms) for space for events such as family reunions and weddings.

There are also four areas outside with seating and space for a sculpture garden, as depicted in the schematic, or whatever the arts and library wish to put outside. The site would also have a parking lot with 205 spaces as well as a special entrance for people with disabilities.

Arts space
The arts would get a total of 24,680 square feet with four workshop spaces for classes, many of which are currently held in the basement of the Jasper Municipal Pool near Jaycee Park. There would also be six private studios local artists can rent, a downtown box office, a yoga/dance studio, a lounge and three gallery spaces. Arts board member Kyle Rupert said the added gallery space would let the arts commission run multiple shows at once (right now, the group is limited to one at a time) and make the show bigger; the annual juried art show, which features work by local artists, could be expanded in the new space as well, he said.

The stage performances would stay at the arts commission’s current site on the Vincennes University Jasper Campus.

Library space
The library would have a total of 28,240 square feet with ample space for collections, two program rooms and a makerspace where people can come to learn new technologies and computer programs as well as use 3-D printers.

There would be a 1,065-square-foot genealogy room, four large study rooms, four small study rooms, a reading lounge on the first floor, outlets and computers scattered throughout the area and a mezzanine. The mezzanine would hold a quiet reading lounge and the four small study rooms. It would also open onto a roof patio so patrons can read outside without staff needing to worry about people stealing materials.

Feeling of excitement
Members of the arts and library boards were enthusiastic about the design.

“I am really excited about this project, if you can’t tell,” Library Board President Dean Vonderheide said. “If I were a cheerleader, if I could jump, I’d jump.”

Vonderheide said the cultural center will serve as a catalyst for economic development in Jasper, helping local industries recruit new talent and making Jasper more attractive to young professionals. It will also be a year-round space with something for every member of the community.

“We have to make this happen,” said arts board member Selena Vonderheide. “It’s our future.”

Selena said her children, who are in their late teens and early 20s, are getting excited about moving back to Jasper, specifically because of projects like the proposed cultural center and restaurants like Brew, a new restaurant downtown with a pub-like feel.

“It’s the whole urban feel,” Selena said.

Looking ahead
Jones pointed out that in the long run, the proposed cultural center will actually save taxpayers money. In 2006, when the arts commission was looking at updating their facilities, the project was estimated at $12 million. In 2011, when the library looked at building along South Newton Street, the estimate was $8 million. With the cultural center, Jones said, the community will get both of those projects and more for roughly $13 million.

Several events for the public to seek answers about the project are scheduled throughout September and October. Tours of the current library facilities will be at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21; 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14; and 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20. A town hall meeting will be held at Cabby O’Neill Gymnasium at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28, and representatives of the cultural center project will be the keynote speakers at the Jasper Chamber of Commerce’s annual luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, at KlubHaus 61, 2031 Newton St. Representatives of the library’s Vote Yes campaign will also make door-to-door visits.

Jasper resident Gene Recker attended the unveiling because he wanted to be informed and get his questions answered. He said the project can be “hard to wrap your arms around” if you’re not directly involved. After the meeting, he felt his questions had been answered, and he encourages his fellow citizens to seek answers to their questions as well by attending upcoming public meetings.

“I encourage people to really take advantage of the town halls and door-to-door visits to get their questions answered,” Recker said. “And to make a vote they feel comfortable with.”