To The Editor:

In a town where contention is the norm, I was excited to hear the plan for a new Aspen Art Museum on Galena Plaza is likely to come to a vote May 5, 2009. In a time when budgets are being scrutinized and any City expenditure has to be looked at askance, the museum is asking only for the City to sell the land necessary to make it happen. That’s right: the City will actually make money in the deal, and the museum will foot the bill for the entire design by the esteemed green architect Shigeru Ban.

Beyond that good news, in the new museum—as in the old—absolutely everything will be free, with no admissions charge to the public.

I can’t help but think that the new construction will be a shot in the arm for a sagging local economy, but also a new center of gravity in downtown Aspen that remains open year-round to the public. From the standpoint of local democracy at work, I further applaud the Aspen Art Museum’s decision to take it directly to the voters once the museum gets the blessing of City Council.

In a year of mostly bad news in Aspen, I can’t help but see this as all good.

Michael Conniff