Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 9/12/2017 - P6
Board of Aldermen — 9/12/17 Page 6
many of us are ready to experience. All we need is your vote to make this a reality. This project has already
brought together so many of Nashua’s residents. Look at everyone here. This is a common ground for so
many people. It has already spurred new ideas and the hope of a better environment. Think what it will do
when it’s built and is operational. The possibilities are endless for our city. | ask that you support this project
for myself, for my family, and for all Nashuans. Thank you very much.
Mike Apfelberg, 7 Edson Street.
Good evening, Mike Apfelberg, 7 Edson Street, Ward 3. You’re going to hear probably a lot of statistics tonight
and a lot of data possibly in favor and possibly opposed. | wanted to speak really more from the heart as a
Nashua resident, homeowner, prior business owner, and the President of one of our local nonprofits. | think
over the years we’ve lived in our residence for about 14 years now. | think over the years of all of the times in
which we have taken our car and drive up the road to Concord, up to Manchester, the Capital Center for the
Arts, to the Palace Theater, over to Portsmouth, down to Lowell, and all of the fantastic Nashua dollars that are
deposited in those communities participating in the arts where they are and | magnify that by the thousands
and thousands of people in Nashua who would probably prefer to stay home and participate in our downtown
community, go to the theater, and maybe grab a bite to eat at Surf, and keep our dollars local it strikes me that
while you can debate whether the performing arts center itself may or may not cover its costs operationally and
| think there’s going to be a lot of debate about that. | don’t think there’s any question about the impact that it’s
going to have on the local economy.
So that brings me to my perspective as the President of the United Way and | should note for the record that
my board hasn’t sanctioned me being here. We haven't taken a vote on this particular issue. Frankly we really
don’t have a dog in this fight when it comes to United Way. What we do believe is in collective impact and the
theory that the rising tide does raise all ships. When we talk about the importance of financial stability and
health and education in our community, we know that a stronger community supports all of the above. It’s our
belief, my belief that by all of us staying here in the community and keeping our activity local that that’s going to
have nothing but a positive effect on the community in Nashua. I’m encouraging you to take that leap of faith
and support this arts center. Thank you very much.
Suzanne Scholl, 34 Ducas Avenue
Hi my name is Suzie Scholl and |’m from Nashua 34 Ducas Avenue, Ward 1. I’m here to offer my support to
the project however, I’d like to speak to the part of this that is really very important. This is a business. This is
obviously will be a wonderful community asset. This is a business. | think that what concerns me about all
businesses is that after 10 years 90 percent of them fail. | would disagree with what was said about certainly
the Palace Theater. | had a very nice conversation with the former Chair who said just 2 % - 3 years ago the
difficulty that they were having there trying to make ends meet. Let’s be clear. That’s a very small theater.
The Capital Center for the Arts is 1,500 seats and the other place in Portsmouth is a very nitch kind of
business that has been around for a long time. So however you decide to move, | do want to support you to
move in the direction that would be positive. However you’ve got to treat this in my opinion not unlike the
Pennichuck Water Works. That is a business. This is a business. There are risks. There are liabilities and
yes there’s upsides but there are risks and there are liabilities. Because of that, | really would like to
encourage you to ensure that the structure for this include a board that has fiduciary responsible for P&L.
Bottom line, same as what Pennichuck is. That’s number one and that % of that board be comprised of
business people in the large corporations. This is a very complex business. It is difficult to run and it’s very,
very, very, cutthroat by evidence of all these businesses around that we’ve been talking about. So everybody
is in competition for that same dollar. Okay. You've got to be respectful of that process. | will say to you as
our Mayor said in order to make this small facility work like this, you’ve got to have about 3 or 4 events where
you fill the house every week or it doesn’t break even.
Now | will say this that the second thing that has got to be done is | believe is that the Chief of Police here in
town has to conduct an investigation and to determine what the costs are going to be to manage the
environment around this facility. VWhat’s it going to cost to put police on the street to make sure that the
parking garage which as we all know all parking garages are just the center for criminal activity. It's a magnet
