‘We’re sort of building the plane as we’re flying it’: County legislators debate future management of arts and culture hub 

When the Tompkins Center for History and Culture opened in the summer of 2019, it was envisioned as a vibrant arts and culture hub in the heart of downtown Ithaca. The building, located at 110 N. Tioga St. on the Ithaca Commons, is owned by Tompkins County and serves as the home to about a dozen nonprofit organizations. Unlike other county-owned buildings, however, the Tompkins Center for History and Culture is not managed by county staff. Instead, that responsibility falls to Ben Sandberg, the executive director of the History Center in Tompkins County, one of the nonprofits housed in the building. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the history center has operated and maintained the property for the county under an agreement that is set to expire at the end of this year. The current arrangement has drawn criticism from some county legislators, who have questioned whether it is sustainable or fair to place the responsibility for managing a county-owned building on the director of