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HomeMy WebLinkAboutUNIVERSITY CENTER FOR THE ARTS - SITE PLAN ADVISORY REVIEW - 34-02 - CORRESPONDENCE -July 22, 2002 Fort Collins Planning and Zoning Commission 281 N. College Avenue Fort Collins, CO 80524 Dear Board Members: Facilities Management Fort Collins. Colorado 80523-6030 Over the past year, Colorado State University has conducted over a dozen neighborhood meetings and informal gatherings to facilitate communication and to request community input regarding plans for the Concert Hall addition to the Old Fort Collins High School (OFCHS). The vast majority of comments received have been tremendously positive. The University is confident that our current proposal is supported by the people living in the surrounding area, represented by the Historic Fort Collins High School Neighborhood Association, as well as the support of the majority of citizens within the greater City of Fort Collins community. The University understands that some members of the Planning Commission are concerned about the design of the concert hall addition and the site plan for the University Center for the Arts at OFCHS. Since our last meeting with the Planning Commission, the University has had several design sessions with user groups and our architectural and engineering consultants to look at alternatives and to deal with budget issues. We believe that recent efforts have greatly improved the exterior detailing of the addition to be significantly more sensitive to the original high school's architecture. We have also eliminated the fly space that rose 72 feet into the air. The major issue some members of Planning Commission raised concerning the location of the Concert Hall addition itself remains an issue that we cannot offer a feasible solution to. The relocation of the Concert Hall from the front of the building does not work from either an economic or a programming perspective. We have studied moving uses within the building and explored alternative layouts, but we are not able to come up with an alternative that will function programmatically for the department of Theatre, Music and Dance. We simply do not have the financial resources to relocate the addition and still meet the basic program needs of the uses. We will elaborate on these issues at the public hearing. It is our sincere hope that when the total project is taken into account, with its regional benefits the widespread community support it has received, the Planning and Zoning Commission will grant your approval of the project. BRC/bjb RECEIVED J U L 2 2 2002 71JRRENT PLANNING LEPA (Green Lights Division of Administrative Services P , . r . E X.