Carnegie Visual Arts Center

By Scott Parrott DAILY Staff Writer

The Decatur Arts Council plans to select a firm soon to renovate the Carnegie Visual Arts Center in hopes of opening it by spring 2002. Birmingham architecture firm Sherlock, Smith and Adams will choose from prospective renovators Oct. 16. The same firm determined the Church Street Northeast building, which has been used for more than 20 years by First Baptist Church, would be suitable for an art museum. Meanwhile, Arts Council members continue to seek funds for their $1 million goal. The organization has about $900,000 for restoration of the 97-year-old Carnegie library building and for covering its monthly operating fees. Arts Council Project Coordinator Kim Mitchell said the organization needs about $700,000 for the actual renovations and another $300,000 for monthly operating costs. The

Decatur City Council in June loaned the Arts Council $830,000 so it could start renovations sooner. The Arts Council must pay the city back during the next five years. The Arts Council will begin a mass mailing campaign in the coming weeks to raise the remaining $100,000 needed for the project. The campaign- called the “Grand Club” - asks citizens to donate $1,000 to the center in return for many privileges, such as invitations to art exhibit previews. “We look at this money not as donations, but as investments,” Mrs. Mitchell said. “The Art Center will affect everyone in this area.” The center will especially affect schoolchildren, Mrs. Mitchell said. County schoolchildren will begin visiting the center’s educational facility soon after its completion, helping to overcome the school system’s lack of art teachers, she said. It will also prove beneficial for attracting visitors, as the center is included among the sites along the $250,000 phase two of the city’s Riverwalk project. The Riverwalk project will extend the landscaped, brick sidewalks installed three years ago at Rhodes Ferry Park across Wilson Street Northeast into the Old Decatur Historic District. “It’s going to be a cultural experience for visitors to our community,” said John Seymour, president of the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce.