After listening to a chorus of support, the Village Council will consider funding part of a feasibility study to determine if Pinehurst is the right place for a performing arts center.

The council will meet Tuesday to consider funding a needs assessment phase of a feasibility study to determine if a performing arts center is a good fit for Pinehurst. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the conference room of Village Hall.

The Pinehurst Performing Arts Center board is asking the Village Council for $33,500 ($28,500 for the study itself and $5,000 for expenses) for the feasibility study. Webb Management Services would conduct the study.

The $5,000 in expenses covers travel for five individuals, along with communication and data expenses.

During a meeting on Jan. 4, PPAC board members told the council that the needs assessment is the next step.

Pat Corso, executive director of Partners in Progress, told the council that the needs assessment would determine what, if anything, could help differentiate the area from other arts venues in the region.

“If we wanted to do something, it will tell us what that should be and what shape it should take,” Corso told the council.

Corso also told the council that if feasible, a new arts center would be a “significant impactor” on the entire county.

PPAC board members expressed their belief in the value of the performing arts center and how it could — if feasible — help boost the economy and bring new residents and visitors to the area.

John Dempsey, president of Sandhills Community College and a PPAC member, called a performing arts center the “most exciting thing to happen since the announcement of Pinehurst hosting its first U.S. Open.”

Mayor Nancy Fiorillo said the idea for a performing arts center was first proposed last summer by David Michael Wolff, founder and conductor of the Carolina Philharmonic. He proposed a 2,200-seat performing arts center that would also include an educational component.

Wolff’s work led to discussions about a possible site for a facility.

“We don’t know what that facility needs to be,” said local architect Alan Stagaard. “We’ve never really done this before.”

The PPAC board contacted Webb Manage-ment services to discuss the matter and gather input from the New York-based firm that has done similar work in Durham, Raleigh, Fayetteville, Cary, Wilmington, Charlotte and Blowing Rock.

According to a proposal from Webb Management, “The first phase of work would evaluate demand for a new performing arts facility in Pinehurst; verifying audience potential, identifying potential users and uses, confirming its positioning within a competitive market and considering how new performance facilities might support the broader goals of the Pinehurst community and region.”

Council member Doug Lapins requested that if the village was going pay for the study, he hoped to have a representation in the process.

The proposal indicates that the needs assessment would include several key parts: concept review, environmental scan, market review, assessment of other facilities in the region, user demandand programming and touring product potential, and benefits and impacts.

The needs assessment is expected to take about three months to complete.

If there is a need for a performing arts center, then the second phase of the study would be to develop a business plan. That phase, according to the proposal, would cost $24,000 plus expenses reimbursement of $3,600.

The second phase of the study is proposed to take an additional 10 weeks.

Contact Tom Embrey at tembrey@thepilot.com.