Jasper Arts: Arts and Library combined efforts promising for Hoosier Desk

Members of the Jasper Arts Commission and Jasper Library Board are gaining a growing appreciation for the Hoosier Desk building as a shared space for both entities.

But even as both boards are far from any decision — a point that was made clear during the Arts Commission board meeting Tuesday afternoon — it was certain that the direction is common.

A library board committee made up of Library Director Christine Golden, attorney Bill Shaneyfelt, and board members Mark Kunkel and Pamela Catt approached the city about the potential combined efforts in regards to the building located at the corner of Third Avenue and Mill Street.

The combination is attractive to both entities due to the size of the building.

Jasper Mayor Terry Seitz addressed the Arts Commission Tuesday and acknowledged the collaborative effort would create the ideal synergy for the building.

In addition to the two government entities’ interest, Seitz told the commission he has been in conversations with a developer that would like to convert two of the three floors of the largest part of the building into apartments. The potential developer would seek monetary help through any potential historical preservation grants that could be available.

Seitz said the synergy created by having the arts, library, and housing in the downtown area would be ideal.

“When you think about that possibility, while it’s very pre-mature, we’re going, ‘oh, my gosh, we could have a library, and an arts, and a housing complex and whatever went with that,'” he said during the meeting.

Arts Board president Mike Jones acknowledged he felt the library was very interested in the potential. “There was a symbiotic thing going on between those of us on the Arts Commission and the library people, thinking ‘we could probably make this work together,'” he said. “I’m not speaking for them. I think that was kind of the feeling that we could make this work. And we liked the space very much.”

The library board plans on discussing the potential for that location at the next meeting scheduled for 5:00 p.m. this Thursday at the Jasper Library Annex (Gutzweiler building), 1103 Main Street.