RAC Fiscal Success

Upon our first meeting with RAC they stated that the RAC would be open to all of Westchester and they would bus chidden in for programs. Clearly this impacts traffic and parking in an already congested residential neighborhood but there is a bigger point this highlights and is one brought up in the zoning meeting, That of fiscal survival. It is my understanding that RAC's last budget ran in the red. Now add the larger facility construction demands, staffing increases, program cost increases and maintenance, the only way RAC can meet these demands is to increase revenue through programs and events, further exasperating the communities concerns and objections.

RAC has used the Bruce Museum as a success comparison, but this is not realistic. Bruce's location and budgets run surpluses and has enough property to have a reasonable buffer to the neighborhood. Please do not allow this to move forward until a solution is found befitting of the neighborhood the RAC mission.

RAC Should Reconsider Proposed Upgrades

While I am fine with the Rye Art Center expanding, and while I understand the property next door into which it plans to expand was donated to the Center to use as it chose, I think the proposed expansion, as we’ve seen in the architectural rendering, will be completely out of place in the surrounding neighborhood. As I think I understand it, the Center already does not conform to the zoning requirements of that area, but more or less grew into its present location without a zoning change really being addressed. But the current Arts Center is in a house…

RAC Expansion - A Modern Box Devoid of Character and Beauty

There is hopefully a time when an organization attains a momentous point in its life that requires either more personnel, more space or both to ensure it can continue to fulfill its mission. RAC is one such organization, requiring more space to support the very community it has served for decades. I applaud that they've arrived at this point and seek to build upon its successful past to accommodate the future. However, an organization must carry forward a vision that supports its mission that considers both the social and physical aspect of its footprint. As of this writing, the RAC…