Aspen Institute, Music Festival and School, Center for Physics, to submit application for affordable housing at Aspen Meadows campus

The Aspen Institute, Aspen Music Festival and School, and Aspen Center for Physics are submitting a land use application to build deed-restricted housing on the Aspen Meadows campus. 

The proposed plan development includes three separate housing developments for each nonprofit on the Aspen Meadows campus. The Aspen Institute is anticipating using the new housing for full- and part-time staff and interns, the Aspen Music Festival and School is prioritizing housing full- and part-time staff as well as visiting musicians and students, and the Aspen Center for Physics will use its housing for visiting physicists and support staff, according to the project website.

“It is a simple truth that free-market housing at a price we can afford is disappearing, and to continue to create and present music here as we do, there is a call we must answer,” said Aspen Music Festival and School CEO Alan Fletcher, in a news release. “In exploring solutions, it was natural to reach out to our cultural partners at the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Center for Physics. After all, the very essence of the Aspen idea is that inspiration happens in a construct of wholeness and balance.”

The conceptual plan aims to maintain the character of the Aspen Meadows campus, preserve open spaces, and blend into the neighborhood, according to the release. 

The nonprofits will host four public open houses this summer to answer questions and receive preliminary feedback on the plans. The first set will be held Wednesday, June 12, one from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and one from 5-7 p.m. in the lobby at Harris Concert Hall. The second set will be held Tuesday, July 16, one from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and another from 4-6 p.m. at the Aspen Music Festival and School’s entertainment tent. 

At the meetings, the community will meet the project team and learn about the housing plans and locations. The project is still in early stages and will require city approval. There are no design plans yet for the number of units each nonprofit is seeking to build.

“For more than 60 years, the Aspen Center for Physics has been conducting research at the frontiers of physics and contributing to the cultural life of Aspen,” said Hisori Ooguri, chair of the board of trustees of the Aspen Center for Physics in the release. “We bring more than 1,000 physicists here every year. The housing problem is an existential crisis for us. Our partnership with the Aspen Institute and Aspen Music Festival and School is essential to preserve and enhance the academic environment of the Meadows area and to strengthen our cultural activities for decades to come.”