City awards space for Englewood Arts in civic center

BY ELISABETH SLAY ESLAY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Englewood City Council approved an agreement awarding space to Englewood Arts in a regular meeting Aug. 7.

According to city documents, the space is on the second oor of the Englewood Civic Center, and Englewood Arts (E-Arts) will share the space with Historic Englewood, which received its portion of the space July 24.

e Museum of Outdoor Arts (MOA) was previously housed there before it abandoned the space, and city documents say the city reached out to E-Arts and Historic Englewood to utilize the space.

E-Arts will primarily use the space to “expand their ability to o er classes and programs,” documents read. e program provides music lessons to the community including violin, cello and piano.

“We’ve provided important services to the community for over 20 years, and this will allow us to expand the educational opportunities that we have,” Jim Copenhaver, chairman of the E-Arts board, said in public comments Aug. 7.

Englewood resident and mother Danielle Carr said at the meeting that she is grateful for E-Arts and the education the organization has provided her children as she homeschools them.

“Having opportunities for families where discounted music lessons are available is so valuable,” Carr said. “If we give them opportunities as children, they ... excel better, and it does increase their intelligence level which helps them be more productive citizens in the neighborhood.”

Under this contract, the city agrees to “provide use of a portion of the former MOA space to E-Arts.” e organization will have exclusive use of all areas in the space except for a meeting space and a conference room the city will use at certain times during the week documents said.

Additionally, documents said the city will provide routine non-eventrelated maintenance and cleaning of the space. e city will also make improvements to the meeting and conference room “which may include paint, ooring, cabinetry and plumbing” and “install a door that allows for visibility into the White Box Room within 90 days of the execution of the amendment.” e motion to award the space to E-Arts passed 5-1 with At Large Councilmember Rita Russell voting no.

In return, the agreement said E-Arts will “utilize the space to promote the arts in Englewood, maintain a master schedule for the annual use of the space, schedule all rental uses of the space” and maintain rental records for the city.

Records show the city entered into an agreement with E-Arts in October 2005 when the organization was in Hampden Hall in the civic center. In May 2018 the organization gave an update on Hampden Hall and then in December 2019 E-Arts renewed the agreement of an additional ve years running through the end of 2025, records say.

Since May 2023 the council tabled the approval of this contract at the request for additional information and amendments to the contract.

City records say those amendments include “added language relative to the closing of doors, added language relative to reporting requirements of E-Arts and added language relative to detailing what the space means to E-Arts.” e space will also be used for cultural programs and installations by Historic Englewood. e agreement between the city and Historic Englewood allows the organization to use a portion of the open gallery space and large storage area for collections. e organization is currently working on designing an interactive opening exhibit showcasing Cinderella City, which he said the civic center was a part of.

According to Matt Crabtree, president of Historic Englewood, the organization is looking forward to utilizing the space.

“We’re excited at the opportunity to create a unique historic museum,” Crabtree said.

He explained for the next six months Historic Englewood will modify the space for the museum.