Fine arts center unveils new look

Calling it “the largest change to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center in the last 50 years,” plans for a revamped entrance will benefit both patrons and performers.
Susan Raines, speaking on behalf of the Friends of the Bowlus committee, unveiled their plans this week, which will include:
— Installation of a full-size elevator connecting visitors to nearly all levels of the 50-year-old building;
— A new loading dock so performers, band students and others will no longer have to load and unload supplies from the alley;
— A number of handicap-accessible parking stalls;
— A more prominent and visually appealing entrance on the east side of the building, complete with covered vestibule;
— A wide driveway so buses can load and unload passengers;
— And potentially an outdoor “instrument” garden and plaza that can be converted into an outdoor performance venue.
“When it’s all said and done, this will be not only the best thing for the Bowlus, but such a nice addition for the community,” said Raines, the fine arts center’s executive director.
Much of the work is made possible now that the Friends committee has possession of property that held the recently demolished Northrup-Warren house at 217 E. Madison Ave.
The home’s demolition became a source of contention among many who wanted to see it preserved, citing its historical significance.
“It’s important to us that people realize the Friends committee really thought this through,” Raines said. “They didn’t just jump into this.”
The Friends purchased the house in 2011, as part of its mission to support the Bowlus by acquiring adjoining properties.
After purchasing the home, members soon came to the conclusion that the cost of its renovation, including replacing old knob-and-tube wiring, was not in the Bowlus’ best interest.
Attempts to sell the home, with the provision it be moved, went nowhere. (One person offered to take the home from the Friends committee and move it, but only if the Friends donated $50,000. Another offered to buy the home, but it keep it at its location.)
The house was demolished earlier this spring, clearing the way for plans to proceed to revamp the entrance area.

PLANS are for work to begin this summer, so heavy construction — cutting large holes into the band room wall for the loading dock and elevator — can be done, and the openings sealed before classes resume in the fall.
“It may run into the fall, and into next spring,” Raines said, when planting the outdoor green space is complete.
Friends members hope to raise $500,000 to go toward the project, which as of yet does not have a final figure. Though their bank account is healthy enough to fund the project, Raines said, it will need to be replenished.
“Nothing about this project is cheap. An elevator is not cheap,” Raines said.
But an elevator long has been the building’s biggest need, Raines said.
“The accessibility has been an issue for a long time,” she said. “Our patrons are getting older. In 1964, when the building was first built, nobody thought of accessibility. Fifty years of not having an elevator has really come home to us. This is something we need to do.”
The Bowlus has a pair of chair lifts, one of which cannot be fixed because parts are no longer available. Replacing it has been pegged at $60,000.
“I think we’d all agree that $60,000 would be better spent on helping pay for an elevator,” Raines said. “But we need everyone’s help.”
The Friends are looking for a lead donor, who would have naming rights for the new outdoor plaza. Other donors could potentially have naming rights if the instrument garden comes to fruition.

RAINES PRAISED the Friends committee’s patience in working with architects. They’ve pored over plans for more than seven months — even as others were vocal in opposing the Northrup-Warren home’s demolition.
“They’ve struggled in trying to do what’s right for the Bowlus and do what’s right for the community at large,” Raines said.
Since the Friends Committee was formed in 1993, the group has donated more than $1.2 million for a wide array of projects, from a new roof over the auditorium, refurbishing the auditorium’s seats, adding new curtains and replacing the rigging, light and sound systems.

EVEN seemingly minor elements, such as the color of the plaza’s benches, were taken into account. They’ll be silver to match the aluminum accents along the front of the building.
The entryway will be paved with Cottonwood stone to match the original brick.
“When you think of the Bowlus center, we’re just a series of boxes,” Raines noted. “You have a great big box with another box for the classroom wing, a box for the rigging system, etc. This new addition is not straight onto the building. It’s angled. Because of that angle, it adds a different kind of look to the entire building,” yet it stays true to the Bowlus’ overall appearance.
“And we’re not taking anything away,” she continued. “We won’t lose much street parking, and the other parking lots will remain. We’re going to angle a sidewalk so students walking to the Bowlus can have an easier path to follow.”
An aside: the new elevator will not connect patrons to the Creitz Recital Hall, in the lowest level of the Bowlus center. A chair lift, the newer of the two still in use, remains functional. Just as importantly, parts for the lift still are can be purchased if necessary, Raines said.

THE ADDITION could be considered the Bowlus’ next step into making downtown Iola a cultural district, which could, in turn, open other avenues of grant money.
“Think about it,” Raines said. “We have the Bowlus, we have the churches, we have the library. Not many blocks away, we have the historical society and its buildings. We have the downtown area and the bandstand. The Bowlus has an art gallery. If we get a grocery store where the old hospital used to be, just think of how that neighborhood will develop. I wouldn’t be surprised to see something else crop up artistically.”
But such a vision requires buy-in from all parties involved; not just the Bowlus.
“It can’t just be something just the Bowlus wants,” Raines said. “It has to be something the community at large wants with different people having input because the whole community would have a stake in it.”