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Spruill Center proposes subsidized artist studios at old City Hall; council asks about parking and maintenance
Summary
Spruill Center for the Arts proposed converting Chamblee's old City Hall into subsidized artist studios and gallery space with modest rents; council members welcomed the idea but raised questions about parking, maintenance responsibilities and coordination with existing local arts organizations.
Chamblee — The Spruill Center for the Arts presented plans to transform the city’s old City Hall into “Spruill Studios,” a mix of private and shared studios, gallery space and programming aimed at expanding access to affordable studio space in the Chamblee area.
Alan Mothner, Spruill’s CEO, told the council the nonprofit plans to convert office space into roughly nine private studios and six open studios and to staff the building so visitors can be greeted and programming can be hosted. Mothner said Spruill expects the space to be subsidized and affordable for working artists: “We will do this at a subsidized cost of a dollar fifty a square foot for the artists,” he said; elsewhere in the presentation staff described private studio rents in the range of $300 a month and shared spaces at about $150 a month.
Council members supported the concept but asked for specifics on parking, facilities maintenance and whether studio residents would be required to offer classes or public programming. Mothner said Spruill expects to offer demonstrations, open houses and occasional teaching but that most instruction continues at Spruill’s Dunwoody education center. He said Spruill would take the lead on building staffing and day-to-day operations and that ongoing major capital maintenance (HVAC, structural repairs) would be handled through lease negotiation rather than by the nonprofit alone.
City staff said the item before the council was to authorize further negotiation, not to approve a final lease. Staff and stakeholders discussed forming an advisory board to include local arts organizations and the Public Art Commission to ensure coordination. The council asked staff to try to finalize a facilities-maintenance agreement before the Tuesday meeting so members could evaluate cost-sharing and potential city subsidies.
No final lease or financial commitment was made at the work session; council directed staff to continue negotiations and return with lease terms and any recommended conditions that protect public assets and clarify responsibility for major repairs.
