in the spotlight by Linda James
T City Performance Hall.
On June 16, 2011, Veletta Lill, executive director of the Dallas Arts District, speaking at the Dallas Arts Advocacy Day 2011 about the future of the arts in Dallas, called for the removal of cultural funding from the city’s general budget and the creation of a public improvement district or PID funded by the city’s hotel-motel tax. Monies from the PID would be used to cover landscaping, improved lighting, improved sig- nage, etc.
Dallas’ hotel-motel tax, currently paying off the debt on the American Airlines Center, will soon be retired noted Lill. If tax money could be re- directed, funding for the city’s arts facilities would become more stable.
Jerome Weeks, writing June 17, 2011 in Art&Seek, called readers’ atten- tion to the shortcomings of the city’s proposed budget plan. Weeks reported that cultural service programming and contracts will once again take a brutal hit; but more critically, he noted that facility mainte- nance at city cultural centers is being cut in half. Without adequate city funding, Weeks notes that the arts facilities and their programming are in peril.
The hot topic in Dallas arts facility discussions is The City Performance Hall. Phase One of The City Performance Hall, slated to open in September of 2012, is designed to accommodate midsize arts groups. Phase One of the construction will consist of a 750 seat performance space (500 seats on the main floor and 250 balcony seats), complete with orchestra pit. If and when Phase Two is built, it will accommodate small-sized arts groups with two 200-seat flexible theaters and include an art gallery, café, two classrooms, rehearsal spaces, and administrative offices.
Following public clamor regarding the future of The City Performance Hall, City of Dallas Cultural Affairs Office Director Maria Munoz-Blanco held a briefing on June 23, 2011 to answer questions regarding the Office of Cultural Affairs’ (OCA) management of the hall. In her pres- entation, Munoz-Blanco related the history of the project; its current
Arts Facilities Funding Falters Dallas’ City Performance Hall
his summer there has been a flurry of commentary and meet- ings regarding arts facility funding and in particular, the newest building under construction in the Dallas Arts District—The
Pictured: Rendering of the Arts Center of North Texas
construction status; and a basic breakdown about the management, rental fees and scheduling of the facility.
Munoz-Blanco’s City Performance Hall presentation revealed: • It will cost $1,400 to rent out the facility in 6-hour blocks. Load-in and rehearsal will cost less.
• It will not be a union house. There will be five full staff members, including two technicians.
• Ushers will be hired on an as-needed basis and are included in the cost of rental. • The box office will not be staffed by the city. • There are no commissary facilities or a contract with a catering company.
• There will be no resident companies in the Performance Hall.
City Manager Mary Suhm arrived midway through Munoz-Blanco’s presentation and reported that more than $200,000 will be needed from the city of Dallas’s General Fund in order to keep the Performance Hall’s doors open during its first year of operation. Suhm said that funding is guaranteed for the first year. However, it is highly unlikely that the hall will ever be able to function without General Fund Revenue. The projected rental fees would only make up about half of the hall’s operating budget.
Collin County’s Arts Center of North Texas
Mike Simpson, executive director of the Arts of Collin County and for- mer Frisco mayor, is confident that the recently renamed Arts Center of North Texas—a 2,100-seat hall expected to cost at least $67 million— will eventually get built on the donated 100-plus-acre site, which sits at the borders of Allen, Frisco and Plano.
However in recent months, the arts hall’s price tag has met with inten- sified criticism. And, the cities of Allen, Frisco and Plano are beginning to withdraw their support of the arts center. The fate of Collin County’s Arts Center of North Texas is uncertain.
On May 14th, when Frisco voters revoked the city’s authorization to issue $16.4 million in remaining bonds for the facility, city officials began discussing leaving the project. Leaders in Plano and Allen, had passed bond packages similar in size to Frisco.
Pictured: Rendering of The City Performance Hall DANCE! NORTH TEXAS
a publication of the dance council of north texas vol. 14 • no. 3
www.thedancecouncil.org august 2011
Continued on page 11. page 5
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