Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects has been selected as the Little Rock firm to assist national architectural firm Studio Gang in the design of the Arkansas Arts Center's estimated $46 million expansion.
Arts Center Executive Director Todd Herman declined a phone interview Friday afternoon, but he sent a statement through a spokesman.
He said all three finalists for the associate architect job -- Allison + Partners, Cromwell Architects Engineers, and Polk Stanley Wilcox -- were "strong, well-respected firms."
"Ultimately, Polk Stanley Wilcox was the best complement to Studio Gang in terms of experience and strengths," Herman said through the spokesman in an email. "We are very pleased to have PSW on board for this important project that will create wonderful new spaces for the people of Little Rock and Arkansas to enjoy art."
Principals at Polk Stanley Wilcox didn't answer phone calls or return emails sent late Friday seeking comment on their selection.
The Arts Center plans to send out a news release next week about the selection.
A committee that consisted of Herman, three Studio Gang employees, consultant Deborah Frieden and Arts Center board member Sara Hendricks conducted interviews with the three finalists Thursday.
The committee decided to visit two of the firms Friday morning and made their selection by that afternoon.
Polk Stanley Wilcox's website says the firm has extensive experience in "corporate/commercial, healthcare, education, master planning and renovation/adaptive reuse projects."
Some of its work includes the Heifer International headquarters, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Student Services Center, Acxiom River Market Tower and the Murphy Oil Corp. headquarters -- all of which heavily feature glass exteriors.
The Arts Center announced in December that it chose Studio Gang as the main architect for the five-year expansion job.
The firm, founded by MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang, is based in Chicago and New York. It designed the Writers Theater in Glencoe, Ill.; the University of Chicago Campus North Residential Commons; the WMS Boathouse at Clark Park in Chicago; and the 82-story Aqua Tower in Chicago, among other buildings.
Studio Gang's ongoing projects include the 88-story Folsom Bay Tower in San Francisco and the American Museum of Natural History's Richard Gilder Center in New York City.
Studio Gang representatives worked with Arts Center officials on deciding the associate firm to work alongside it through a 20-month phase to design the expansion and an 18-month construction phase that will follow. A spokesman in Chicago returned an email Friday in response to a request for comment to say the firm would have a quote included in next week's Arts Center news release.
The Arts Center has estimated that construction costs will total $46 million -- not including "soft costs" such as the design contract. The project will include the renovation of 90,000 square feet, new construction of 40,000 square feet and landscaping work.
An initial timeline puts the new Arts Center opening in May 2022.
Little Rock voters approved a $37.2 million bond last year, funded by a 2 percentage-point increase to the city's hotel tax, to pay for the expansion project.
Officials have repeatedly said that significant private contributions would be raised in addition to the public funds, but no details have been announced.
To cover construction and increased operating costs of an updated center, Herman has said the museum would need an additional $45 million to $50 million in private donations.
Studio Gang has already started examining the Arts Center and will soon start discussing the extent of renovations with Polk Stanley Wilcox.
Established in 1960, the Arts Center includes the museum, regular art workshops and a children's theater. The building's last major expansion in 2000 included construction of 30,000 square feet of space and renovation of 12,000 square feet.
Studio Gang and the local firm will decide how to split duties before signing a contract, anticipated in March, Herman previously told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The Arts Center expects to hire a project manager and primary contractor by the end of the year, he said.
There is ongoing discussion on how the initial design costs will be funded. J. Shepherd Russell, president of the Arts Center's board of trustees, said the nonprofit Arts Center Foundation may have to front some of those costs because expenses will begin before the voter-approved bonds are formally issued.
The foundation controls the Arts Center's endowment, which ended fiscal 2015 at $27.7 million, and its art collection.
Little Rock owns the Arts Center building and pays at least $700,000 per year on building maintenance under a 2015 agreement between the city, the Arts Center and the foundation. The Little Rock Board of Directors appoints members to the Arts Center board of trustees.
Metro on 02/18/2017