Public Input Session Scheduled for New James Island Arts and Cultural Center
The Town of James Island is inviting residents to help shape the vision for its new Arts and Cultural Center at a special community meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chamber, 1122 Dills Bluff Road.
This public brainstorming session is a chance for residents to share their ideas and priorities before any definitive plans are made for the new center, which will be constructed on the Town’s Hillman Lot property next to Town Hall. Additional public input and design feedback sessions will be scheduled throughout the planning process.
"Our goal with these public input sessions is to make sure the new cultural center truly serves the needs of our community and residents," Mayor Brook Lyon said. "We want this to be a place people will use and love for generations to come."
BACKGROUND: Town Council voted to move forward with plans for the new center on Nov. 21, after learning that the existing Arts and Cultural Center building on Camp Road would require extensive repairs, including a new roof and exterior waterproofing, in order to remain open to the public. Despite not owning the building, town taxpayers would have been responsible for these repair costs of $250,000 to $400,000 under the lease agreement, along with significantly higher parking costs for even a limited number of spaces at the site.
While the new cultural center is being planned and constructed, current Arts and Cultural Center programming will continue without interruption at James Island Town Hall.
“The old library building has served us well, but it just doesn’t make sense to keep pouring taxpayer dollars into a building the Town doesn’t own,” Mayor Lyon said in a Nov 22 statement. “The new Arts and Cultural Center will give our residents the great facilities and programming they deserve, without the exorbitant repair and maintenance costs at the current location.”
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