The Aspen City Council hopes to complete a construction plan and cost estimate for the armory renovation by October. And Aspen residents and the City Council largely agree: They want the old City Hall building to be used as a space for affordable dining.
However, councillors are still concerned about some of the potential operational details of the space.
The latest disagreement over the old City Hall building arose during the Aug. 19 work session. Councilors focused primarily on how many kitchens or grocery stores should be able to operate there and whether the space would be flexible enough to meet the community’s changing needs.
City council and attendees at a recent open house were offered two options. The first would allow up to seven food vendors to operate in the space. The second would allow up to five but would create more “flexible space.”
Councilman Bill Guth was open to option one, saying he liked the greater focus on the food hall concept. The other four councilors preferred the greater flexibility of option two.
City Councilman John Dolye said he had two main concerns about the project, particularly the first option.
“First, I’m concerned about the other food retailers in town and what this means for their businesses, and whether some of them might be offered space in the building,” he said. “…Are we planning a food court and what if that concept doesn’t work? Will that be as flexible and adaptable as we need it to be?”
Todd Kennedy, of CCY Architects, is advising on the project. He said option one was designed more from a financial perspective.
“We really looked at how we can maximize revenue,” he said. “How can we make this financially viable? And that’s where we really landed on option one.”
Ultimately, Kennedy said, they concluded that two additional kitchens would not impact revenue as much because Aspen can only serve a limited number of meals. Option two, Kennedy said, came about because they considered the broader needs of the community beyond affordable food.
“How does this project benefit the majority of Aspen’s population? The locals, the tourists, the valley residents, the entire community,” he said.
He said this is reflected in certain aspects of the design of the second option. For example, if people want take-out on their lunch break, fewer seats are required.
Jenn Phelan works in the city’s asset management department.
During Monday’s working session, she urged city councilors not to get caught up in the smallest details, but to think more about the needs of the community that they want to meet with the old town hall building.
“One of the things I want to talk about is creating a successful project and how that impacts the council, because I’m not sure we all agree on that,” she said.
“Oh, I can tell you that’s probably not the case,” Mayor Torre replied.
Among the ideas councillors proposed for non-dining uses were a family-friendly communal lounge and a place to play billiards.
