AGENDA #7d

BUDGET WORKING PAPER

TO:                  W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

FROM:            Kathryn Spatz, Director of Parks & Recreation

SUBJECT:       Potential to Use Basement of Chapel Hill Museum for Parks & Recreation Activities

DATE:             April 30, 2003

This memorandum is in response to a Council member’s question concerning the potential use of the basement of the Chapel Hill Museum for Parks & Recreation Department activities.

The Town currently has a 10 year lease with the Chapel Hill Museum for use of the entire old Chapel Hill Library building located at 523 East Franklin Street. The lease will expire on September 3, 2006. The lease agreement specifies that the lease shall be “renewable for a subsequent ten-year term upon Town Council approval. The Museum shall give the Town Manager notice in writing of its desire to enter into a subsequent ten-year lease at least 180 days before expiration of the term.”

The lower level of the old Chapel Hill Library building contains approximately 6,000 square feet, although we believe that only 4,500 square feet would be suitable for programming space. If it became available in 2006, the lower level could be used for community meeting space and many types of recreation classes.

Museum staff informed us that virtually all of the lower level of the old library building is currently utilized to enable operation of the Chapel Hill Museum. Furthermore, the museum staff note that typically curators require at least 30% additional space for storage and preparation of exhibits. The lower level of the building is currently divided into several rooms, with most used for archives storage, equipment storage, and exhibit preparation. One room is leased to the Historical Society. The Museum currently rents the remaining rooms to several groups including the AAUW, the UNC Alumni Association, and the Institute of Government for meetings and other activities.

The Chapel Hill Museum believes that it could not continue its current level of operation without full access and use of the lower level of the old library building.