Stymied by an impasse with the city over its expansion plans, St. Paul's popular Circus Juventas is looking for a new home in the western suburbs.
"Our needs are in conflict with what the city is thinking," said Dan Butler, who with his wife, Betty, runs the nonprofit circus school they started for kids in 1994.
Today, it's the largest youth performing arts circus in North America, a much-admired junior version of Cirque du Soleil that has won national and even international acclaim.
The school's success prompted the Butlers last winter to seek a lease amendment with the city to expand its 21,000-square-foot big top in Highland Park for new studios, prop and costume shops, offices and a gym.
But the sloping blufftop where Circus Juventas sits, near the park's aquatic center at Montreal Avenue and Edgcumbe Road, won't safely handle the 10,000-square-foot expansion the Butlers want, Parks and Recreation Department spokesman Brad Meyer said.
Another point of contention: The school opposes a shuttle system for audiences that the city wants to cut congestion and parking overflow on performance nights.
Meyer said the city's door is open to further discussions, and that parks officials understand the school has a business model it needs to follow.
"We don't want to see them go," he said. "But we also can't accommodate the size and scope, and the implications for parking and park use that their proposed renovation and expansion would bring.