April 20, 2008
Printed in the Bellingham Herald, Op-Ed
By Ken Culver, Board President, Campaign for the Arts
Great Ideas Begin With A Dream
Great ideas begin with a dream. At the moment, a big dream of creating a lively, thriving Arts District in downtown Bellingham is well on its way to becoming a reality.
Pass by the Mount Baker Theatre during the next nine months and you will see signs of extensive updating surrounding the 80-year-old structure. Continue around the corner on Flora and head towards the Whatcom Museum and you will find the new Arts and Children's Museum rising from the leveled ground.
Both exciting projects are the result of years of behind-the-scenes planning and fund-raising that is finally coming to fruition through the Bellingham Whatcom Public Facilities District (PFD), made possible by the state to encourage economic development within city cores. The money supporting these important projects comes from a state sales tax "kick back” of 0.033 percent over a 25-year-period, or approximately $13 to $15 million. Bonds, issued by the PFD and backed by the city to be repaid by the gradual sales tax rebate, have provided the upfront funds necessary to purchase land and begin renovation and construction.
The Campaign for the Arts (CFA) is a private fund-raising group comprised of dedicated local business owners, professionals, academic leaders, and civic and arts patrons. We have secured major contributions from private donors to insure the capital costs and the future operating costs of both the Museum and the Theatre will be covered. At present, the CFA has raised $5.1 million. Another $3.5 million is needed to reach our $8.6 million goal. The CFA is now turning to the public at large to help us achieve this goal.
These projects will substantially enhance and improve the current facilities of both the Museum and the Theatre. This will allow the Museum to host long awaited traveling exhibits now that the new facility can meet the physical, environmental or security needs required. The Museum will also add much needed exhibition space for artwork the museum already owns but is unable to properly show.
The Theatre's Studio Theatre, opened in November, 2004, and the expanded dressing room and backstage space represented the first phase of the PFD's plan. The work underway now at the Theatre will replace 80-year-old electrical, cooling, heating and acoustical systems that have challenged Theatre management in recent years. The end result will be greater comfort and enjoyment for audiences and expansion of its season into the summer months.
While patrons of these local institutions will immediately benefit, the scope and intent of the PFD's overall plan in creating an Arts District is much broader.
According to the most recent economic study conducted by Americans for the Arts in 2005, "communities that invest in the arts reap the additional benefits of jobs, economic growth, and a quality of life that positions those communities to compete in our 21st century creative economy.”
Those of us with the Campaign for the Arts want to insure that our area continues to prosper and thrive, and to offer its residents a quality of life we've come to cherish.
We live in a stunningly beautiful setting. We are fortunate to have a downtown city core that has remained largely intact. Our cultural organizations make our county an even more desirable place to live and work.
It is the dream of both members of the Campaign for the Arts and the board of the PFD that the Arts District, and all that it encompasses, will produce an even more vibrant place for us to live. Arts districts are magnets for economic vitality, catalysts for private investment and mainstays for community gathering.
I invite you to become a part of bringing our dream to life. Join the Campaign for the Arts. Gifts may be made through the Whatcom Community Foundation. Contributions are tax deductible and multi-year pledges are welcome. Visit us online at artsdistrictbellingham.net for more information.
