The 110-year-old Carnegie Building -- formerly the library and now home to the History Center-- appears headed for a dramatic change soon.

As the History Center’s lease with the city of Traverse City approaches its end, differing visions for the building are emerging; some envision the historic Sixth Street building as an arts center--a community magnet for music performance, dramatic readings, regional art shows, and local history exhibits.

The History Center, meanwhile is seeking a revised deal to remain there.

Two years ago, the History Center entered a two-year lease with the city. If it proved financially sustainable, the organization would get ownership of the Carnegie Building along with the Con Foster collection of historic artifacts. But the $100,000 annual cost to operate and maintain the 15,000 square-foot building proved too much. To cut costs, the board eliminated its executive position and restructured, but the nonprofit is still falling short, says Steve Harold, History Center board chair.

The History Center’s lease expires at year-end, and the “writing is on the wall,” says Mayor Michael Estes, who would like to transform the building into a community arts center, as Petoskey and Jordan River have done. He envisions an oversight board that includes arts nonprofits and two Traverse City commissioners.

The History Center recently approached the city manager to request $124,000 annually from the city; $24,000 to manage the Con Foster collection and $100,000 to operate the building. The group wants a newly written lease by Sept. 30, Harold says, adding that the History Center has already invested $1.9 million for restoration and climate-controlled storage vaults.

Another potential tenant could be the Artcenter Traverse City, which is seeking a home. Thanks to an anticipated merger with Petoskey-based Crooked Tree Arts Center, the Artcenter could potentially take over 80 percent of the building, Artcenter President Paul LaPorte tells The Ticker.

Like Estes, LaPorte likes the idea of opening the rotunda room to arts groups.

“It’s a gem of a room, one of the top five rooms in Traverse City, and it needs to be brought to life,” he says.

In addition to the building and dollars at stake, the future of the Con Foster collection of some 25,000 historic artifacts is also in play. The city owns the collection and has a legal obligation to maintain it; many of the artifacts aren’t related to this region, but disposal would cost about $25 per item, Harold says.

“If the city doesn’t want us to manage their collection, if they don’t want us to use their collection for the public benefit, we’d be happy to rent a quarter of the building to run our archives out of, and the city could do whatever they wanted with the rest of it,” Harold said. “We are prepared to put as much as possible into storage and lock it up if they want to end our relationship.”

LaPorte says the Artcenter doesn’t want to fund or manage the Con Foster collection, but would display historic exhibits periodically and facilitate a new direction. Artifacts could go in the basement vault with a room set aside for a curator or an archivist.

Estes hopes the Carnegie Building issue will be studied and debated this fall.

“(The Ticker) is just a step ahead and hopefully stirring public discussion,” he says.