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Burlington Arts Center Opens

After a year of delay the Center for the Visual Arts has opened at the historic firehouse next to City Hall. "This is going to be an exciting place that will warm the hearts and the soul," mayor Peter Clavelle predicted during a press conference last week, adding with a wink, "and also ring the cash register of Burlington."

The arts are big business, and Burlington has a large arts community. First, the non-profit City Arts must raise a lot of cash. The firehouse project was dealt a blow when serious structural damage was discovered in the building that dates from 1889, adding a million dollars to the cost. That makes this a nearly $3.5 million project. City Arts is still $800,000 short of its goal to finish the renovations on the five-story building by next summer.

The half-finished center contains plenty of space for art shows and lectures. In a city full of historic buildings, this one represents a work of art.

"We call it the jewel in the crown of Burlington's architecture," City Arts director Doreen Kraft said, "because this building -- it's exquisite, exquisitely beautiful."

Architect Jon Anderson preserved the 19th century design in his plans for a complete renovation. Even the original bell was returned to the very top of the old firehouse last summer. But the work is not done yet.

Clavelle joked, "At times I said, is this ever going to end? And it hasn't ended yet. But we have reached a very important milestone."

A milestone on the road to a worthy goal, an arts center to make downtown ever more vibrant.

Andy Potter, Channel 3 news.