In Their Back Yard
Residents Meet With Crystal Bridges Project Leaders
Last updated Tuesday, February 7, 2006 10:23 PM CST in News
By Kristin Netterstrom
The Morning News
BENTONVILLE -- Barbara Vaughan has several years before she decides whether to walk or drive to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.
The future art museum will be within minutes of her house, but "I don't think the Waltons are going to let us walk through their yard," Vaughan joked.
Nine months have passed since Alice Walton, daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, announced plans for a $50 million art museum on her family's property. Representatives of the museum's architect and preconstruction firm met with neighbors Tuesday to begin a dialogue that will continue through years of construction.
People will know a museum is under construction, but Crystal Bridges developers hope for minimal noise, construction traffic and impact on neighbors.
"I think it's going to be surprisingly unobtrusive," said Bob Workman, the museum's executive director.
Vaughan, her husband and son appreciated a firsthand look at site models of what will become an art museum, library and public gathering place. Many in the group found their house on the model, giving them a better idea of where they live compared to where 250,000 people will trek annually starting in 2009.
Traffic, light pollution and trail route questions popped up during the 90-minute conference.
"I'm a painter and I can't wait to spend my days viewing beautiful art," said Victoria Fox, who attended the discussion to ask whether "J" Street wouldn't be widened further. The street will serve the museum's main entrance near John Deshields Boulevard. A recent expansion of "J" Street put her living room close to the road, Fox said.
Workman didn't know of any future expansion and said consultants will review possible issues a bridge on Northeast "A" Street could present for construction traffic.
Transforming Crystal Bridges from a model on a table into an actual physical building will take years. The building's footprints have been staked. Bentonville's planning department should see some kind of project submission by the end of the year, Workman said.
Crystal Bridges' site requires a lot of infrastructure work before construction starts on the actual museum.
Water and power lines have to be installed -- the 94-acre site doesn't have utility service. The stream running through the property will have to be diverted during construction.
Roads onto the site need building. Dirt and rock from the excavation will be used in building the roads, said Paul Sipes, a representative of Linbeck/Nabholz Joint Venture Co., the preconstruction firm. Reusing material on the site will reduce truck traffic, he said.
People can expect to see two towering cranes 18 months from now. Crews will use the 270-foot-tall cranes to build the museum without affecting a large number of trees.
"We're hoping that is the only thing the public will recognize as we're building down here," Sipes said.
Noise from construction, trucks and blasting may be minimized by the woods and foliage around the site, Workman said. Precautions, such as mufflers for the diesel construction equipment, will be taken to reduce noise, he said.
Crystal Bridges should open in the fall of 2009, a few months later than originally announced, Workman said.
It will have a three-level underground parking garage to help the museum retain a natural site, said Hugh Phillips, a principal in the architect firm of Moshe Safdie and Associates.
Visitors will enter the museum through towers leading them down 60 feet from the street into the actual building.
"Our terrain is so steep here, we're kind of building this museum upside down," Phillips said.
Architect Moshe Safdie was on the site Sunday and decided to pull the museum more out of the supporting hillsides. This results in fatter, shorter museum wings across the ponds.
The two wings will act as dams for a natural pond and a reflecting pond. Workers will divert the stream running by the project site for the duration of construction, Sipes said.
Water from the stream will flow underneath the reflecting pond without interacting with the treated water, he said.
Of the 100,000-square-foot project, Workman said the permanent gallery will occupy about 28,000 square feet.
Nine paintings in the collection have been revealed, and Workman said more will be unveiled during the upcoming years. He plans to hire an educational director before school starts again in August. Crystal Bridges should have an educational program in place before the museum opens, he said.
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