Albany Museum of Art officials ponder move downtown

ALBANY — It’s one of those not-so-well-kept secrets, the talks that have surfaced between city of Albany officials and the Albany Museum of Art’s board of directors, but representatives of both groups said last week they’d like to relocate the museum in the city’s Central Business District.

Museum Executive Director Paula Williams, while cautious in her discussion of the possible move, said, “We haven’t decided if we’ll renovate an existing building or start a new structure from the ground up, but our board did agree that if we find the funding and we’re able to get a building suitable to house a credited art museum, we’ll definitely be moving.”

Williams, who was in Virginia for a director’s conference last week, said a move downtown would help continue the revitalization momentum that has picked up steam in the city in recent months.

“There are definitely things going on downtown, there is a synergy building there,” the AMA director said. “I feel the timing is right, and it would make sense to move closer to the constituents we serve. We have an opportunity to help create a cultural hub in that district, to bring more tourists to the attractions that already exist downtown.”

Downtown Albany Manager Latoya Cutts said city officials have preferred to let museum officials talk about their future plans. But she made it clear that a move downtown by the art museum would be a major plus for ongoing redevelopment.

“Let me just say that we’ve let (AMA officials) know that we are very interested in them being downtown,” Cutts said. “I don’t think it’s proper for us to discuss an issue that will be decided by the museum, but there’s no question that having them here would be huge for us. We’ve made it clear that we’re very willing to work with them.”

Discussions of a move into the Central Business District by the museum have included the historic Rosenberg Building that now houses The Albany Herald. Officials with the newspaper announced late last year that its property was on the market. Williams said location talks have not been limited to that building.

“There are several properties we’re looking at downtown,” she said.

AMA’s current facilities at 311 Meadowlark Drive, which are on the west campus of Albany State University, were severely damaged by straight-line winds that tore through the community on Jan. 2. While the installation of a new roof and renovations of the first floor of the facility are currently underway, Williams said it’s unclear whether the museum will resume operations at that location.

Ownership of the Meadowlark Drive facility is something of an anomaly for AMA board members as they ponder the museum’s future. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents owns the land on which the museum sits, but the museum owns the building.

“There’s an agreement in place with the Board of Regents that if we sell the building at any time, they get the first option to purchase it,” Williams said. “They haven’t shown interest in buying the property yet, but they have a year to make a decision. And we have nothing in writing from them saying they’re not interested.

“If the Board of Regents passes on purchasing the building, there’s an opportunity we’d try to acquire the property that the museum sits on and then sell it. We’d then use that money to finance the move to a new location.”

A number of churches have reportedly expressed interest in acquiring the Meadowlark Drive property, but Williams said she would not discuss that possibility until the museum’s future is more clear.

Dougherty County voters approved funding in the Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax V referendum to move the museum downtown to the former Holman Mule Barn property. But the museum’s board voted not to make the move.

“That was a different situation,” Williams said. “The board was not really united on making a move at that time, and, quite frankly, we didn’t have the money. The situation is different now. I think there’s a level of excitement (among board members) now about the possibilities of moving downtown.”

Williams said that with all of the different elements surrounding a possible move of the art museum, it could be 18 to 24 months before a decision is finalized.

“This is going to be a process,” she said. “But we’re going to do what is right for the museum. One of the things that really excites me is a study that’s been conducted that shows the museum could have an estimated $4 million positive economic impact on downtown. That would generate a lot of excitement.”