A downtown facility for the Aspen Art Museum is not likely to come to fruition without a public vote.

Some residents in the community aren’t satisfied that a new building for the Aspen Art Museum is appropriate as the city continues a public process to vet what is now called the Zupancis-Galena (ZG) Master Plan.

The plan calls for county and city office space, an art museum, expanded court facilities and affordable housing on a chunk of city-owned land bounded by the library, Obermeyer Place, Main Street and Rio Grande Park.

The art museum cites growing attendance and growing involvement in the community as justification for the newer and bigger space. The museum’s current location, across the Roaring Fork River from Rio Grande Park, also presents accessibility challenges that keep people away, museum director Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson said. Every year, she noted, the museum becomes more “constrained and restrained” by the space, a historic building that once belonged to the Holy Cross electric company before being given to the city in the 1980s.

At a recent Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to discuss the ZG Master Plan, some expressed concern about the art museum’s having hired an architect to begin preliminary work analyzing the site. The citizens of Aspen should have an opportunity to vote their preference on a plan to allow a new art museum on publicly owned land in a prime location, said some citizens, many of whom were reluctant to be identified.

In calling for a vote, Aspenite Phyllis Bronson questioned how much the community needs a world-class arts facility. “If the citizens say it’s a priority in all our lives (and the vote is successful), we’ll back down,” Bronson said.

Bronson and those of a like mind are determined to put the art museum, as well as the county office building, before voters.

City Attorney John Worcester said that anytime city-owned land is contemplated for a public use, or for a use by a party other than the city, it must go to a vote. He cautioned, however, that the charter language can be a bit “squirrely” about triggering a vote if the city still technically owns the land.

But even if there is no charter requirement, Worcester said he had no doubt citizens would force the issue onto the ballot.

“Plan on it,” he said. “Put it in your schedule of events. This is Aspen.”

Zuckerman Jacobson said she has “no opinion” as to whether she would or would not prefer a vote, and said she “can’t know what’s going to happen” in the process.

There is a challenge to get the facts about the art museum out to the community at large, Zuckerman Jacobson said. One key point that can be a source of confusion is that the museum would be entirely privately funded, she said, also drawing attention to the art museum’s collaboration with other entities such as the Aspen Writer’s Foundation, the Aspen Music Festival and School and valley public schools, which the museum reimburses for travel costs when students participate in field trips. The museum also offers free admission — for at least the next ten years, and, hopefully, for all time, Zuckerman Jacobson said.

Zuckerman Jacobson added that she has no doubt the museum has broad public support.

She argued that hiring an architect was in no way putting the cart before the horse, since all the architect has done to date is examine the sight to determine whether the museum’s conceptual plans would be feasible there.

When asked if the architect — a renowned Japanese architect named Shigeru Ban — is working on more formal designs and drawings for the building, Zuckerman Jacobson said “unequivocally no.” It would be stupid to waste money on designs until the building has the go ahead, she noted.

The new space proposed for the Aspen Art Museum is at the former youth center, which is currently available to nearly any community group for a small fee. Almost every night of the week, the space is used by groups ranging from community theater organizations to alcoholics anonymous to local government to religious organizations. According to city personnel in charge of renting out the space, people calling in about the room are usually turned away due to a lack of availability.

Kent Hudson Reed, who runs a local theater troupe that produces the Shakespeare in the Park series performed in the open space outside the youth center, said he is worried that the little guy could get lost in the plans.

“People who attend the — quote — ‘public meetings’ are the ones closest to the vested interests,” he said.

Community Development Director Chris Bendon said it is important for new development at ZG to have meeting space to address the needs served by the youth center. The space needs to be flexible and accommodating to different groups, Bendon said.

The ZG Master Plan must proceed though the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Aspen City Council before the individual land-use applications can  go forward. Some projections have put finished products at the ZG site as far as 10 to 15 years into the future.

Seeking a greater community consensus on the various pieces “is at the heart of the reason why we are doing a master plan,” Bendon said.

curtis@aspendailynews.com