The city of Frisco and Hall Park developer Craig Hall are in talks for a possible public-private partnership to bring a performing arts center to Frisco.

During the State of the City luncheon June 21, Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney presented his 100-day plan, which included a focus on the arts. Cheney said Frisco City Council had already created a sub-committee to move forward with the performing arts center.

Cheney said plans for a performing arts center could come in the form of a public-private partnership between the city and Hall. Cheney said a partnership with Hall is just one of the options the city is exploring.

“I commend the mayor for his energy and his efforts behind this; we intend to work closely with the mayor and Council and move it along as quickly as everybody is willing and interested,” Hall said.

Hall said his vision for the performing arts center is that it would be accessible for all Frisco residents and all the nonprofit arts groups that are looking for a home to perform and hold exhibits. He said he already has a list of Frisco organizations that would be interested in using the center.

“I think it’s really important [that the center] serve the local groups of Frisco, and the details of all that depend on what the city wants and what the organizations want,” Hall said. “I don’t think [the center] has a chance if the organizations aren’t involved.”

Tammy Meinershagen, executive director of Frisco Arts, said the arts organizations will be an integral part in helping move the project forward by providing a voice for the local arts community.

“I see Frisco Arts as the citizen champion of this project, and I definitely consider [Hall] to be the business champion,” Meinershagen said. “If we were to have an arts district in Frisco, it would definitely be at Hall Park. The park is already home to over 200 pieces of art and the Texas Sculpture Garden, so it would make sense that it would be home to the performing arts center.”

Hall, who served as board member of the Green Music Center in Sonoma, California, said he envisions an 800- to 1,200-seat performing arts center within Hall Park, with the possibility of expansion, that would be able to accommodate all types of art.

Hall said it is not an uncommon model to place a performing arts centers within office parks. He said the road infrastructure is already in place and the hours of performances are generally different than those of the office tenants.

However, Hall said if the city finds another site that is better suited for the center, he would continue to be part of the process to bring the center to the city.

“I feel like Frisco has been a great market for Hall Park and we’ve been good partners, and from our standpoint Frisco is a great community and we want to support it,” Hall said.

Frisco Arts already conducted an initial needs assessment for the performing arts center that found potential users of the space, Meinershagen said. She said what Frisco needs now is a true feasibility study that would determine the needs for Frisco and the economic impact that a performing arts center would have on the city.

Hall said he agrees that a study should be conducted before a large amount of money is spent, and he would like to begin organizing a study this year.