Kentuck Announces Plan to Bring Café, Store and More to Historic Tuscaloosa Space

The Kentuck Art Center is looking to expand into Tuscaloosa and open a museum and gallery space, cafe, storefront and event venue in a multimillion-dollar project to breathe new life into the historic Queen City Pool House.

The proposal was announced Tuesday during Mayor Walt Maddox's presentation of his Capital Projects budget proposal - his plans to spend $38.3 million on building or renovating property across the city, funded largely by a $20.9 million surplus over expected tax revenues last year.

Part of that proposal is a new public-private partnership with Kentuck to see them move into the Queen City Pool House that currently houses the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum. Although neither a timeline nor total project scope have been set in stone, Maddox is recommending the council approve $11.4 million for the new space.

Exa Skinner, the new executive director of the Kentuck Art Center, told reporters Kentuck had been looking to expand for several years, but the COVID-19 pandemic slammed that door for a while.

Those north of the Black Warrior River may be worried about what this move could mean for them, especially in light of Kentuck relocating its world-renowned Festival of the Arts to Tuscaloosa this year, but Skinner stressed that this is an expansion, not a relocation. Kentuck will continue to operate in its main campus in Historic Downtown Northport.

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"This expansion represents an exciting new chapter in Kentuck's history," Skinner said. "We're grateful to the City of Tuscaloosa for the opportunity to collaborate on this project, and we look forward to preserving the architecture of this building and honoring the legacy of Mildred Westervelt Warner."

If the Tuscaloosa City Council approves the public-private partnership with Kentuck, the Transportation Museum will close and its exhibits will be carefully sent to their rightful owners both public and private.

City staff said just 2,500 people visit the transportation museum annually and their contract with the University of Alabama to host the museum at the site expired last year but has been honored in good faith since then.

As those matters were addressed, work would simultaneously be done to redesign the Queen City Pool House space. Don Buel Schuyler, an apprentice of renowned architect Frank Loyd Wright, designed the art deco bathhouse and iconic fountain on site, and the property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Skinner said with the city's help, Kentuck plans to create a vibrant new event space, a cafe, a small retail storefront and more.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reactivate a historic area and create a destination that's truly special," Skinner said. "This project increases accessibility to the arts for all, whether you live in Tuscaloosa County or you're visiting from out of town."

The plan hinges on approval from the city council and will certainly not be implemented overnight - the new Kentuck at Queen City will have to be designed and its features installed. Still, city officials said they're ecstatic at Kentuck potentially joining the Tuscaloosa Public Library, the Rivermarket, the Mercedes Benz Amphitheater and eventually the Saban Center in the city's ever-expanding River District.

"This is an exciting opportunity to expand the reach of Kentuck's arts programming in our community and City," Mayor Maddox said. "This expansion will amplify our Arts & Entertainment District, and continue to transform our riverfront into a destination for residents and visitors alike."

For more on the mayor's Capital Projects budget proposal and coverage of the council's consideration of Kentuck at Queen City, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.