City hesitates to commit to addition of art center
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

City council members told the Art Center for the Islands on Thursday, Oct. 18, that it would have to wait a bit before getting official city backing for moving the center to 430 N. Alister St., the site now occupied by the Port Aransas Computer Center.

Even then, the council said, city backing isn't assured.

The council also is talking about declaring the old constable's office, jail and justice of the peace's office, which is in the same building as the computer center, a historic site. Mayor Claude Brown, who once served as a deputy constable working out of the building, is the prime mover behind that quest.

However, the building belongs to Nueces County, not to the city. It's leased to the city for $1 a year, allowing the computer center to occupy part of the space. The older section of the building is reportedly uninhabitable because of asbestos content. That's the section that contains the former constable's office and jail.

The Art Center for the Islands has shown the council several options in the past few months, including demolishing the old building and putting a new center there and keeping the old building and erecting an art center above it. Dan Winship, who has spoken for the art center, said the center wants to lease the site from the city because it will cost less than buying land and erecting a building.

Besides, Winship said, the property has prime exposure.

"The Art Center for the Islands can't survive out in the boondocks," he said. "In that respect, it's like a retail merchant."

It's not clear to anyone what effect it would have on the art center request if the building is declared a historical structure. Nueces County Precinct 4 Commissioner Chuck Cazalas, in whose precinct Port Aransas is, has said he opposes a historical designation for the building.

"That's only one vote (of the county commissioners)," Brown said at Thursday's council meeting.

But that's not the only potential stumbling block in the art center's path.

Councilman Bubba Jensen is concerned about parking, saying that while the Community Center, across Brundrett Street from the computer center, meets legal requirements for parking, that parking isn't really adequate.

Adding the historic Mercer House to the Community Center grounds, as is planned, will exacerbate that problem, Jensen said.

"When you have something going on (at the Community Center), people park across the street and everything. I've seen the same thing with the art center," Jensen said. "When we have all three of those going at the same time, there's going to be a squeeze."

Jensen also pointed out that with the Community Center and the Mercer House on the same property, the city has the beginnings of a viable historical center.

He suggested that allowing the art center to occupy the old jail property could block future historical development.

"I'd love to have the city find and provide a site for you, but you're going to have trouble getting my vote on putting you where we're trying to start a historical district," he told Winship.

In the end, the council decided to explore going before the Nueces County Commissioners Court to see how commissioners feel about the historical question.

Only after that's decided and other issues are settled will they address the question of the art center, they said.

Even so, that may not be the final word on the matter.

City Manager Michael Kovacs reminded the council that the lease on the building has eight years to run, and that Nueces County has said it would be reluctant to renew that lease.

If it doesn't, the city will be faced with the problem of finding a new home for the computer center.