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Commission approves plan for Museum of the West
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ONE STEP CLOSER: An artist's rendering of the proposed Museum of the West.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Museum of the West has cleared another hurdle. The Scottsdale Planning Commission this week unanimously approved the development standards for the planned downtown museum.
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The standards spell out exactly how the proposed $30 million facility will look and be placed upon nearly an acre of city-owned property on the northwest corner of First Street and Marshall Way.
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Preliminary designs for the 45,000-square-foot Western-themed museum call for a partially solar-powered glass and steel structure, three stories above ground and one below. Michael Fox, the museum's CEO, expects the project to carry an estimated $30 million price tag for construction, interactive exhibits and base operating costs. He said there is also a goal in place to raise an additional $20 million to cover additional operating costs. The city is contributing $7 million toward the project, in addition to the land.
Last month, the City Council gave the museum's trustees the green light to begin negotiating a development agreement with the city, which will formally define the responsibilities of each party as it relates to the project's development.
Discussions between the museum trustees and city employees are under way and expected to last through early fall, said Robin Meinhart, downtown liaison for the city's downtown group.
In the meantime, the City Council is slated to vote on the development standards on Sept. 9.
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