There’s always Basalt

Dear Editor:

The board of the Aspen Art Museum should expand its universe of possible new museum sites to include Basalt, now that its proposed purchase of the Rio Grande building from the city has been soundly rejected by voters.

Thinking outside the Aspen Rubik’s Cube could be rewarded by much lower costs, a modicum of bickering and dickering, instead of an interminable amount, and relatively speedy approval of a great community amenity.

Look at the model of the Basalt Regional Library, which serves parts of Pitkin County up the Frying Pan and Old Snowmass as well as the town of Basalt. An Aspen Area Art Museum would be more central to the valley and would be easily reachable by car and bus.

If the Aspen Glen subdivision can lie below Carbondale in Garfield County, why can’t an Aspen Art Museum be in Basalt?

The Basalt Town Council just passed a first reading of amendments to the Town Code that recognize and reward buildings of architectural significance in the town’s core. The cost of privately-owned land, or possibly town-owned, in the core or on the Roaring Fork River, would be a fraction of Aspen costs.

Basaltines would recognize the community value of a major cultural asset. Please consider Basalt in your future.

Bernie Grauer

Basalt