Julie Haywood, board president of the Cheltenham Township Library System, voiced her support for the plan, highlighting the work to develop the existing Glenside Library into a satellite location, but raised some concerns about the lack of clarity regarding the future of the Cheltenham Center for the Arts.
Several other community members echoed similar concerns.
“It’s a very highly utilized building,” resident Liane Sher said. “It covers all age groups [and offers a] wide variety of types of art. I think it would really be sad to lose all the projects and types of classes and broad expansive art available to everybody that’s there.”
Sher said she understood the building is in poor shape, but that it is a fixture in Cheltenham’s artistic community.
Areman said that while divesting is the likely option, that doesn’t necessarily mean selling it to the highest bidder. He insinuated that there are other avenues forward, such as gifting the property to an entity.
“From a programming point of view, [the] arts in Cheltenham is important, so there’s not an intention to lose anything. But that particular property is in a tough shape, so that is the basis for the recommendation,” Areman said.
From a desire for more collaboration with the school district to concerns that Cheltenham Village has been forgotten, residents still have overarching questions regarding the future of the township’s facilities.
The community will have more time to digest its options and provide feedback.
“While we are not going to be voting tonight, we do need to move this process along,” Areman said. “So I expect that this vision or some modified version of it will be presented for debate and vote in the near future, likely at our next month’s legislative meeting in April.”
Regardless of which option the township ultimately chooses, the massive undertaking’s price tag is expected to hover around $100 million. Areman said the township is pursuing all avenues for additional funding resources.
With the help of U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean’s office, the township has already secured a $3.8 million federal grant for the project.
“Additional funding sources for community projects, alternative energy and trails are on the radar,” Areman said. “More will be sought once this concept sort of is adopted or a concept like this is adopted and the goal again is to obtain as much funding as possible, whether it’s through grants, strategic partnerships, creative financing — get as much funding as possible before we go either to the bond market or to our taxpayers for funding options.”