Despite losing out on Old Courthouse spot, Creative Woodstock proponents confident in its future

After months of speculation, Creative Woodstock almost certainly will not find a home in the Old Courthouse and Sheriff’s House, but proponents still are optimistic about its future.

City Council members at their meeting last week said they preferred to go a different direction with the last open space in the courthouse, which officials have long said would be a space the public could visit.

Dating back to last year, Creative Woodstock pitched an all-encompassing culture and art center that could include any sort of creative endeavor, including visual arts, dance and theater. It looked like a potential candidate for the spot.

But in April, the City Council said it wanted to open up the space to others, citing concerns that the city could be on the hook if Creative Woodstock, a publicly run program, could not pay its bills.

Woodstock Library Director Nick Weber, who has acted as the primary lead for the program, said the space would have been a good one, but he understood the council choosing another direction.

“It will continue,” Weber said. “I still believe in the concept. I think it can be a really good addition to Woodstock.”

Several council members also expressed support for Creative Woodstock. Council member Wendy Piersall, who sits on the city’s arts commission, has been a proponent of the center.

On Monday, she gave a list of potential ideas for the spot, including the Woodstock Opera House, which is about to undergo “extensive renovation.”

“I think everything they’ve said they want to do, they didn’t need to do it in the courthouse,” she said Monday.

At the meeting Nov. 15, Piersall said the choice for the spot, Makity Make, an arts and crafts business out of Algonquin, was not as “well-rounded” as Creative Woodstock. She said she would like to try doing both, but Creative Woodstock would need to be more fully formed before taking over a spot.

Other council members, given the more than $13 million bill to renovate the courthouse, said they wanted to see a private entity come in to help recuperate some of those costs.

Council member Lisa Lohmeyer said she liked that Makity Make was established, while council member Tom Nierman said he viewed it from a business perspective, calling it a “no-brainer.”

“It’s nothing against Creative Woodstock,” Nierman said. “It’s a great idea. I just think [Makity Make] is better for the taxpayers.”

Others were optimistic that in the future, Creative Woodstock could be incorporated in some way.

Council member Bob Seegers agreed with Piersall that Makity Make wouldn’t provide “the bang” that Creative Woodstock would.

“My argument all along has been the taxpayers spent a lot of money on this building, and they deserve some return,” he said. “I’m all for pushing Creative Woodstock, just not in that space.”

Although there is support for the concept, Weber said he still was disappointed to not get the spot.

“I’ve been thinking about that space and working with others with that space in mind,” he said. “It’s disappointing … but there’s also optimism that the council still supports it.”

Where Creative Woodstock could end up is not known, Weber said.

He said he thinks Woodstock has a reputation for arts in the area, and the arts center would build on that. The spot also could be a place for smaller artists to come and make their work known, Weber said.

The idea for Creative Woodstock stemmed from a few things, Weber said.

Working at the library, Weber said, he’s always had a desire to do more arts programming. That became more solidified with the possibility of a space in the courthouse, where people could come visit an arts center separate from the library.

“Art tends to be messy, and creativity is messy,” Weber said. “And messy at the library doesn’t go well.”