On Tuesday evening during public comment, a middle schooler stood up in the Longmont City Council chambers and played a viola solo.
Fernando Gurrola, an eighth grader at Trail Ridge, played a piece from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 3 after asking city council to consider placing the Center for Arts and Entertainment on this November’s ballot, noting the impact that music has had on his life.
“I can only wonder how many lives of Longmont’s youth and youth across the region could be forever impacted by having the center,” he said before putting his instrument to his shoulder.
The Longmont Alliance for Arts and Entertainment has proposed a private-public partnership with the city of Longmont to build a world-class cultural center in the city. Elliot Moore, spokesperson for the alliance and music director of the Longmont Symphony Orchestra, explained that the group would need to raise $35 million within five years before Longmont would issue a $45 million bond to pay for the building.
“By raising $35 million from the private sector, we feel that then tells the people of Longmont that we have real community buy-in at that point,” Moore said over the phone Friday.
Some major organizations in Longmont agree, with the Longmont Chamber of Commerce, St. Vrain Valley Educators Association and Longmont Economic Development Partnership all supporting the ballot initiative. Cameron Grant, chairman of the LEDP, pointed out to city council during public comment on Tuesday that the proposal could increase the sense of place in the city while also recruiting and retaining talent in a competitive job market.
“It puts the burden on the private supporters of this to demonstrate the financial viability by raising a significant percentage of the costs before the city has to put forward any public money,” Grant added. “It shifts the risk to the private sector first to demonstrate that this will work.”
Moore explained that if the organization is unable to raise the $35 million for some reason — maybe due to an economic downturn — then Longmont taxes won’t go up. He noted that the alliance feels fairly confident in their ability to raise that money, though.
If the money is raised and the city issues a bond, as currently proposed, a property tax equal to $76 annually for a $500,000 home would be collected for 15 years.
There would also be a 0.06% sales tax for the duration of the operation of the building. Moore explained that this is meant to cover any operating deficits should they arise.
“This center should pay for its own operating costs — staff, utilities, cleaning, all that kind of stuff,” he said. “In the event that there is an operating loss, that sales tax is meant to cover the operating shortfalls.”
According to Rachel Moyer, spokesperson for the city of Longmont, staff is currently refining the numbers for a performing arts center and looking at rough cost estimates. While Longmont has taken on similar projects like the Vance Brand Auditorium at Skyline, the private-public partnership proposal is different from what staff usually looks at.
“I believe the current plan is for the private group to fundraise first, then if they hit their goal of $35 million, we would issue the bonds,” she said. “This is only if council added (the question) to the ballot and voters approved the project.”
Moore added that while making the project financially viable is a priority, he also wants the public to think about the social benefits. He imagines that, along with out of town visitors, the Center for Arts and Entertainment could also be a place for a local elderly couple to enjoy their evening without having to drive all the way to Denver, or for a Longmont child to experience the arts when they otherwise wouldn’t.
“This center, I think, has so much to offer in terms of its benefits to children,” he said. “At a time like this, when there have been these kinds of issues going on in Longmont, to me this is such a beautiful piece of how we can as a community elevate our youth.”
The Longmont City Council discussion on this topic is scheduled for April 25. If council puts the issue on the ballot, voters would decide whether or not they wanted to pay for the center in November’s election.
