Project would expand Kentuck Art Center's footprint in downtown Tuscaloosa

The Kentuck Art Center will help "reactivate" the 1943-born Queen City Pool and Bathhouse, which has been restored and operated as the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum since 2011, pending approval from the Tuscaloosa City Council of Mayor Walt Maddox's capital budget proposal.

More: Fiscal year 2024 proposals for the city of Tuscaloosa

In his presentation to the finance committee Tuesday afternoon, Maddox led the proposal, dubbed Kentuck at Queen City, with the note that the city is enjoying an almost $21 million surplus, highest in its history. From that, and added to other funding sources, Maddox was recommending investments of:

• $7.1 million for public safety, including fire and police

• $19.9 into infrastructure projects

• $3 million for other city assets

• And $8.3 million into quality of life, of which Kentuck was the lead item. Improvements to the Mercedes-Benz Amphitheater, and development of the Linton Barbershop as a civil rights museum were also included.

Councilor Lee Busby, chair of the finance committee, suggested they would move forward on those proposals that had the most support, and that where any questions remained, they would likely hash them out.

The Kentuck-Queen City project asks $1.4 million in fiscal year 2024 for professional services to begin the changeover, including closing out the current contract with the museum. Though the city owns the building and grounds, functions have been operated by the University of Alabama Museums.

Maddox proposed $10 million for the facility for fiscal year 2026, though he noted that would be offset by savings to the city, when Kentuck takes over operations.

Once the museum has been cleared, and its contents either returned to donors or otherwise stored, Kentuck will utilize the area as a extended display space for its folk art collection, a cafe and retail storefront, and given the expansive outdoor green space where the pool once stood, a "vibrant event venue," said Exa Skinner, Kentuck's executive director.

It represents part of the growing partnership between the city of Tuscaloosa and the more-than-five-decade-old art center. Kentuck, with its main campus of offices, display areas, artists' studios, workshop spaces and more at 503 Main Ave., in downtown Northport, has maintained a display space in downtown Tuscaloosa's Hotel Indigo, recently used the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum green space for a successful outdoor art event, and late last year, announced it would be holding its 2024 festival in Snow Hinton Park.

"With Kentuck, we have a partner of highest quality," said Maddox, "one that is nationally recognized, and we are so proud they are in our city, and we want to help expand their footprint. ...

"And one thing about partnering with Kentuck, they have 52 years of excellence; they are not going anywhere."

The Queen City project was constructed in 1943 as a public pool and bathhouse, designed by noted architect Don Buel Schuyler, an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, with the circular poured-concrete bathhouse, swimming pool and art deco fountain. Like many of the Druid City's public swimming facilities, it was built with support from the David Warner Foundation, established by members of the Gulf States Paper dynasty after they lost their son David in a drowning accident.

Queen City Pool and Bathhouse operated until the late 1980s, then fell into disuse for decades. Panels rose and fell, trying to find the best reuse for the facilities, until in 2005 its conversion into a local history museum was announced. With a grant from the Alabama Department of Transportation, the grounds were fully renovated, though the pool was filled in.

It opened Dec. 13, 2011, as the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum, tracing the city's history through its river, road and other traffic. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Attendance hasn't been what was hoped, with about 2,000 to 2,500 visitors per year, according to Brendan Moore, the city's chief operations officer.

"For comparison, that's about the same number as a good day at the farmer's market" held in the River Market venue, across Jack Warner Parkway from the bathhouse, Moore said.

Kentuck grew from a 1971 downtown Northport heritage celebration into a yearly festival, renowned internationally for its outsider and folk art, along with other traditional and contemporary works. From the festival's success, founder Georgine Clarke began exhibiting from her collection, and offering workshops. Over the decades, Kentuck has grown into a year-around art center, run by several full-time and some part-time staff.

This year's festival, Oct. 19-20, will for the first time in its history be held outside Northport. The 53rd Kentuck Festival of the Arts is moving to Tuscaloosa's revamped Snow Hinton Park, currently undergoing $10 million in renovations. That decision to move the festival was made late last year, following contractual concerns with the city of Northport.

Maddox noted the "extraordinary partnership" opportunities stem from festival negotiations, with Skinner, who took over the top job Jan. 1, and with outgoing Executive Director Amy Echols. He shared a video with artists' renderings, showing a gleaming facility, the green space dotted with tents, and a restored fountain.

"If adopted, just think what a statement it makes, that our river front would be branded with Kentuck," he said.

Arts and quality of life are crucial to the Elevate Tuscaloosa plan, Maddox added, and though they couldn't have anticipated the Kentuck partnership, it's exactly the sort of investment the city was hoping to make, something that adds to quality of life, which in turns helps attract and keep people, and businesses.

"When you can strike a deal with Kentuck, it's a good day," he said.

Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Queen City pool site could become site to expand Kentuck Art Center