Crooked Tree Plans 2028 Exit from Carnegie Building, TADL Slated to Take Over

Negotiations over dueling proposals for the city-owned Carnegie Building on Sixth Street have reached a proposed resolution. City commissioners Monday will consider extending Crooked Tree Arts Center’s lease through October 2028, after which the nonprofit plans to exit the building. That would pave the way for Traverse Area District Library to fully take over the property, returning to its once historic home.

CTAC and TADL were the only two respondents this spring to a city request-for-proposals (RFP) to occupy the Carnegie Building. CTAC moved into the building in 2015, adding a second campus to its location in Petoskey. 

TADL’s publicly expressed interest in returning to its former home on Sixth Street to open a city museum and community center was part of why the city issued an RFP. City officials wanted to provide transparency and fairness in selecting a tenant, particularly with Crooked Tree’s lease soon set to expire. Supportive of both organizations, commissioners agreed in May to extend CTAC’s lease through October 2027 to give the parties time to negotiate a solution that might allow both groups to use the building.

However, in a July 27 email to City Manager Benjamin Marentette, CTAC Executive Director Angela Morris said her organization now believes “this is the appropriate time for CTAC to plan for a transition to a new location.” As the group outlined in its RFP, “our future space needs are a primary driver in our long-term planning,” Morris wrote. “As our programs continue to grow, having adequate space will be essential to our success.”

CTAC requested an additional one-year lease extension through October 2028, which “will allow both TADL and CTAC to thoughtfully plan for a smooth and successful transition,” Morris said. In another email, Morris said the extension would “provide the stability needed for CTAC to continue serving the Traverse City community while we complete our long-term planning and identify a future permanent location.”

While Morris declined to comment further to The Ticker, CTAC is also in a time of leadership transition. Kristi Wodek, who was up until recently the managing director of CTAC’s Traverse City location, recently departed. Morris announced last week she is also leaving CTAC “to be more available to my family and focus on this important season of life.” CTAC is posting an interim executive director position while the board conducts a search for its next permanent leader.

In a memo to commissioners, Marentette recommended approving CTAC’s lease extension through October 2028. The city is planning improvements to the building during that time. Crooked Tree’s departure in two years would clear the way for TADL to return to the Carnegie Building, which it occupied for almost a century until moving to Woodmere Avenue in 1999. Library Director Michele Howard affirmed the organization’s interest in assuming the building’s lease in November 2028 in a letter to commissioners.

“We view the Carnegie Building as a natural complement to the library's existing local history, archival, and public programming efforts,” she wrote. “Establishing a long-term presence in the building would create opportunities to preserve and showcase local historical collections, enhance public access to archival resources, provide a community gathering space, and strengthen educational and cultural programming for the benefit of the entire community.”

Howard asked for commission support to allow staff to begin negotiating the terms of the lease agreement with TADL soon. 

TADL also offered to help the city start managing its Con Foster collection. Marentette tells The Ticker that while a contractor has been working on assessing, curating and inventorying the historic collection of artifacts, the work “hasn’t been able to move very quickly.” He told commissioners staff will explore whether funds are available in this year’s budget to “ramp that effort up” with TADL; if not; he’ll include the allocation in next year’s proposed budget.

TADL said part of the effort is to review materials in the Con Foster collection that could be relevant to Rotary Charities’ upcoming 50th anniversary celebration. “We understand the collection contains historical photographs, documents, and artifacts that may help tell the story of philanthropy, civic leadership, and community development in the Grand Traverse region,” Howard wrote. “We respectfully request the city’s support in facilitating access to the collection so that appropriate materials can be identified, researched, and, where, appropriate, incorporated into anniversary programming and exhibits.”

Longer term, Howard said the Con Foster collection “represents an important community asset whose preservation and accessibility align closely with the library’s mission to collect, preserve, and provide access to the history and stories of our region. As the community’s public library and steward of significant local history resources, TADL is well positioned to help ensure these materials remain accessible to residents, researchers, students, and visitors.”