After an ultimatum from a Somerville nonprofit and criticisms from city councilors, the city released a plan Monday for its Armory arts building that suggests setting up a Somerville Armory Advisory Committee, seemingly against overwhelming public opinion and the advice of its own consultants.
The board would “oversee selection of tenants, spending of Armory revenues for building services and capital investments while also facilitating relationships with and among tenants, neighbors and other community members,” according to a draft report available via the city’s website.
Center for Arts at the Armory leaders Stephanie Scherpf and Jess White posted a letter Tuesday saying they were “unsettled” to see an unpopular idea back as the sole suggestion in a report that “essentially kicks the can down the road and now makes it the responsibility of the five-person Armory advisory board to figure out all of the details that should have been put forward in the Armory Master Plan.”
When presented in July 2023 as a first of two options, that idea was broadly disliked. “Ninety-five percent of the attendees at this meeting are against Option 1, and 5 percent are undecided because they don’t have enough information,” said Joe Lynch, a former chair of the advisory board for The Center for Arts at the Armory – the building’s nonprofit anchor tenant since 2009. (The other option was more like how the building has run for nearly two decades, with tenants programming and operating the building – but the city deciding who stays.)
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The city’s consultant, Create Today’s, said at the same meeting that it didn’t feel running the Armory was among a “core competency” of the city.
The draft report says the Armory Advisory Board would consist of two representatives of the Somerville arts community, two residents of Somerville and one professional in facilities management for real estate, but that “Massachusetts law places the authority to lease municipal property and allocate municipal revenues with the mayor and City Council and
therefore the advisory board is not the final decision-maker, but a key partner.”
“The advisory board will be a part of the executive branch, under the mayor,” the report says, but the mayor and council will “have a role” in selecting members.
Hearing expected Dec. 10
Confusion and anger convinced city staff to start over with a listening process, though 10 months later, at a May 15 meeting, city staff largely resurrected the ideas. The Monday draft report is a third appearance of an advisory committee concept.
The city took the 27,000-square-foot building at 191 Highland Ave., Spring Hill, through a $5 million eminent domain land seizure in May 2021 without a long-term plan, and Scherpf’s nonprofit and other tenants have been waiting for one since.
Scherpf told councilors Nov. 14 that if an Armory master plan is not finished and approved by the City Council by Dec. 31, the Center for Arts at the Armory would leave, driving away an organization producing 750 events for 250,000 people a year. Several councilors expressed frustration with the city.
A final draft of the plan is still expected in December, according to the city press release from Monday.
An online public hearing “for further input” on the draft report is planned for a council Finance Committee meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 10 via the Zoom videoconferencing platform. A meeting agenda and instructions to join will be posted to somervillema.legistar.com, the city said.
Comments from Somerville leaders
The city was contacted Tuesday for responses to the issues raised by Scherpf and White, but there was no immediate response.
The city press release doesn’t address the unpopularity of the proposed concept seen at community meetings over the past couple of years, but does include comments from the mayor and staff.
“It’s easy to forget now just how dire the situation was back in 2021. The city stepped in to be sure this vibrant space was not converted into condos, offices or other private uses. And not only did we save the building and help the tenants get through the pandemic, we now have an opportunity to realize a long-term community goal. Together, we can now plan for a public arts hub as a place to create and experience arts and culture for years to come,” Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said in the press release. “The work now is to ensure we have a strong plan that serves this diverse, creative, forward-looking community. I want to thank the many community members who helped drive this work forward and look forward to additional feedback.”
Somerville Arts Council director Greg Jenkins is also quoted: “The community wants to see diverse uses in this space serving all ages as well as multiple creative and cultural arts from dance and theater to crafts, music, talks, and more. From rehearsal, studio, teaching and gallery space to event and community space, the Armory is poised to build on its strong foundation as an arts and community hub. The public’s vision and ownership of this plan will help the Armory grow into even broader access and activity for artists and the public alike.”
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