Springville Museum of Art examining potential expansion, renovations

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald
The Springville Museum of Art is photographed Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Springville.The Springville Museum of Art took a step forward last week in a plan to address facility challenges and preserve the 87-year-old building.
On Jan. 22, museum officials issued a request for proposal, or RFP, to architectural and design consultants to help develop a design and vision for facility updates and/or expansion.
The project is seeking ways to accommodate the museum’s growing art collection and staff, and will explore expanding the museum campus by acquiring the Cherry Creek Elementary gym, old Family History Center and Community Services building — all buildings that were part of the old Springville High School.
The RFP also details a desire to ensure long-term preservation of the museum and prevent deterioration.
Museum Director Emily Larsen said the proposed changes are a part of the city’s art master plan, which was approved by city officials in 2024 with a goal of enhancing Springville’s identity as “The Art City.”
With the new plan, the investment in art and the amount of city projects will grow. However, officials believe several hurdles are keeping the museum from functioning at a higher capacity.
According to Larsen, there is a lack of office space to accommodate the growing staff that facilitates the museum’s numerous programs and services.
“How do we get enough space for everyone to work and do their jobs? Because we don’t want to give up gallery space to create more offices,” she said.
The museum has run out of storage space for its growing collection, which was started over a century ago, and has had to decline new acquisitions because of it, Larsen said.
The RFP also lists the need for climate-controlled storage to properly store artwork.
“That would make the artwork safer and be better preserved in perpetuity,” Larsen said.
With the support of the city, the museum is examining its options.
“In the arts master plan, they approve considering, ‘Do we create a campus in this area of Springville that connects these buildings in ways that serve the community and serve the goals of the arts master plan and of our community?'” Larsen said.
“We don’t know exactly what the best move forward is, whether we can accomplish our goals with the building we have in doing some remodeling or if it would make sense to acquire these buildings that are on our campus and remodel them to serve some of these goals,” she added.
The city is not disclosing the budget for the study because it’s a sealed bid, according to Larsen, but she said the city allocated a “small amount” of money through the museum’s capital improvement project budget, while some will be paid with money raised by the museum’s nonprofit.
The RFP lays out the proposed study into three phases: Phase 1 will address the feasibility of the project and develop recommendations and conceptual designs; Phase 2 refines the concepts into detailed plans and renderings and estimates costs and a timeline; Phase 3 will conduct code analysis and prepare necessary drawings and documents to solicit construction companies.
The museum will select a consultant March 27, and Phase 1 of the study will begin in April.
“I think the city is just trying to figure out what’s the right way to use all the building facilities we have, and also what the right facilities are to acquire to serve our needs,” Larsen said. “We’re really at the very, very beginning stages of just asking those questions and trying to be really prudent.”