A dingy light industrial area below the Colorado Avenue bridge would be transformed into a home for artists, studios and galleries under the latest plan to create a permanent arts district in downtown Colorado Springs.

The vision by real estate developer Chuck Murphy and attorney Stephen Mullens calls for construction of about 30 buildings on a roughly 4-acre site northwest of Colorado and Sierra Madre Street, where artists also would display and sell their work.

Buildings to house restaurants and educational facilities, along with areas for sculptures, would be among other features.

It’s not the first time an arts district, which downtown supporters say would be another reason for visitors and shoppers to come to the area, has been proposed.

Another ambitious plan calling for studios, galleries and a multistory building with lofts and apartments south of the Colorado Avenue bridge never got off the drawing board because of money problems.

While some members of the arts community applaud the latest proposal, they question whether artists could afford to buy and lease space in the new buildings. Another possible hurdle: Murphy and Mullens still haven’t acquired an out-of-state landowner’s parcel they envision as part of the district.

Murphy, a member of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Board who attended the center’s Bemis School of Art as a child, is optimistic. Two major arts groups, the Cottonwood Art Academy and the Smokebrush Foundation and Gallery, operate nearby and give the area an established arts presence, he said.

“I’ve been interested in the arts all my life, and so has Steve,” Murphy said. “They (artists) belong downtown. I think this is a natural extension of what’s already there.”

The arts district would be part of a 100-acre southwest downtown urban renewal project that City Council members approved in August 2001. Most of the urban renewal site lies southwest of Colorado and Cascade avenues.

Despite being targeted for a makeover, little work has been done in southwest downtown other than the city’s construction of America the Beautiful Park, southwest of Colorado and Cimino Drive.

Murphy and Mullens own most of the property north of the bridge. Their land includes two industrial buildings — including one known as the “long barn” — and a third that houses Smokebrush and The Bridge Gallery. The city’s Traffic Operations Center is in another building next to the proposed district, but it wouldn’t be part of the project.

Under the arts-district plan, the 30 new buildings — built “green” with solar panels and other environmental features — would include a mix of properties. Some would be sold to artists who could work on the ground floor and live above, while other buildings would have space to rent for studios and galleries, Murphy said.

Some of the for-sale buildings might have airport hangar-like doors, which would open and allow passers-by to watch artists at work.

“It’s captivating to walk by and see somebody painting a picture,” Murphy said. “When you see that, you have to stop. That’s what’s going to be exciting.”

The building that houses the Smokebrush and Bridge galleries could be expanded with additional floors, although it depends on the cost, and it’s possible the building would be torn down and rebuilt, Murphy said. The “long barn” and another building would be razed.

Murphy said he hopes demolition of buildings could begin next year and have the first buildings for sale in 2009.

Building prices aren’t yet known, but Murphy wants to keep them as affordable as possible. Because the district is part of an urban renewal area, tax revenue from redevelopment in the area can be used to help pay developers’ costs of streets, utilities and other improvements.

Peggy Vicaro, executive director of the Cottonwood Art Academy, said the plan to recreate an arts district — she and others think pockets of existing artists already constitute a district — is exciting. But she doubts Cottonwood could afford the new space and already is considering the purchase of another downtown building.

Cottonwood, which houses studios and galleries, rents space in a building owned by the city that is slated to be razed as part of the southwest downtown urban renewal project.

Michael Cellan, co-owner of the Bridge Gallery said he doubts artists could afford space in the new district. Since many have studios and galleries, Cellan said, why would they want to move?

Murphy, however, expects the area to attract all types of artists — perhaps musicians and dancers, too — and hopes to market the project throughout the western United States.

Murphy says he and Mullens want to buy a parcel owned by Gregory Knowles, a California resident whose family has been longtime downtown property owners. The Knowles property, a little more than one-half acre, is north of the building that houses the Smokebrush and Bridge galleries.

Knowles said in a telephone interview that he won’t decide on selling until somebody makes him an offer. An industrial building on the property is leased to a moving and storage company.

Murphy said he plans to contact Knowles. Could the arts district be developed without the Knowles property? Yes, Murphy said, but not as easily.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0228 or rich.laden@gazette.com