Boise Art Museum, city spar over building lease. Here’s what that means for historic venue
The Boise Art Museum has been based at its Julia Davis Park building since 1937, when the museum was constructed with the aid of donors. Now, nearly 85 years later, the museum and the city of Boise are involved in a months-long dispute over how much rent the museum should pay and how much money the city should allocate to support it.
The Boise City Council approved a short-term lease with the museum on Feb. 1 so that the museum could remain at its 670 Julia Davis Drive location until a long-term contract could be approved. The museum will pay no rent while negotiations continue.
For years, the museum has paid $1 per year to lease its park site. Meanwhile, the city contributes around $45,000 per year for a full-time maintenance employee.
Executive Director Melanie Fales told the Idaho Statesman that the museum’s $1 rent stems from the fact that the museum constructed the building using its own funds in the 1930s and has paid for renovations on three occasions since. The city and museum previously had a nonexpiring agreement signed in 1996.
Fales said the museum has two primary concerns: to ensure it has a lease longer than 10 years, and to turn aside an earlier proposal by the city to have the option to provide a 60-day notice to terminate the lease. She said 60 days would create too much uncertainty for the museum, since exhibits are planned many months in advance.
“We want to have those long-term assurances in place,” Fales said.
The council approved a nonprofit lease ordinance in 2021 for more than a dozen nonprofits that the city rents property to. Part of that agreement required nonprofits to pay a portion of the fair market rent, no greater than $2,000 per month, and to have a lease agreement of 10 years. The museum declined. It remains the only nonprofit not to sign an agreement with the city.
In a Jan. 11 work session, City Council members said the issue was making sure the city could recoup some of its costs from the nonprofits.
“What we’re charged to do every single day is to be stewards of taxpayer dollars, and to make sure we’re using our resources wisely in a way that’s fair to everyone and that we’re not playing favorites,” Council Member Holli Woodings said.
Frustrated by the museum’s resistance, the council in December decided not to provide financial assistance until a new lease was signed.
Fales said the museum hasn’t discussed how or if the rising rent price will result in higher admission fees or other costs for visitors.
“I can’t speculate on that,” she said. “I’d rather that we consider that once we know what our long-term agreement will actually look like.”
A new lease is expected to be presented before the council sometime in July.
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