Board of Aldermen 2-06-2020 Page 17
So | applaud her for her bravery. The reason that | put in the 2 year time limit and I’m not saying you should
keep the 2 year time limit, I’m just trying to provide some historical perspective, so every body here can make
an informed judgement about what to do, so I’m addressing the legislation.
The reason that it was put in there was because we were under the gun. In the Fall of 2017 John Koutsos had
offered to the Board of Aldermen and the City of Nashua, Alec’s Shoe Store for $4 million dollars. So unlike
most of projects, you sort of got the building before you had the concept behind it. But he had other buyers, he
was willing to give the City of Nashua a break so we had to make a fairly quick decision about what to do with
the building. We voted to acquire that because the understanding at the time was that, in the event that there
was no Performing Arts Center, it was still a very valuable piece of real estate and most likely it could be sold
and the City of Nashua would not be on the hook for that $4 million dollars permanently. So when the
Performing Arts Center ideas were being developed, | think some of my colleagues may remember, we actually
had some intern come by and do something that looked like it was out of Vanity Fair, a drawing which was a
little futuristic, clearly not appropriate, we were fairly clear back then that there needed to be a lot of legwork.
The two year time frame did not come from members of the Performing Arts Center. The way that came about
was | had a breakfast with Simon over at Norton’s because he was asking my opinion about everything trying to
solicit votes. | was talking to him about the fundraising, asking how close he either was or wasn’t and we got to
talking about timeframes and | said, “Well would two years be enough time to get the money”. Absolutely
based on where they were at the time, his thoughts, they felt that would be an appropriate amount of time. My
feelings in putting an amendment in there was we needed a kill switch to the entire project because in the event
that it couldn’t be properly funded with public and private donations, you have a $4 million dollar asset on the
books that is just going to sit there forever. | think people tend to forget about that. And that’s why | felt
compelled to come up here to give you a little bit of history.
That problem still exists. Now | think Director Cummings underestimated the affect that Alderman McCarthy’s
death had on the entire process. It wasn’t just we had to shuffle some meetings and re-arrange things, he was
more than the point man for this, he had been the heart and soul of that entire project for years. | mean my first
term on the Board Brian had been talking about putting a Performing Arts Center on the roof of one of the
garages if you recall and we went through that whole discussion. So there’s a long history there. So | am very
sympathetic with the idea of extending the timeframe because you took a very big hit. | know the public is
demanding to know how much money has been raised. | would actually say there’s an alternate question to be
asked, which is how much money was de-committed after Alderman McCarthy died? Now | don’t know the
answer to that. | actually agree with your fundraiser that you really need to be confidential.
What | would urge the Board of the Aldermen is to recognize that you still have that $4 million dollar asset, you
are still working towards the goal of having the Art Center. Whatever | think or don’t think, I’m in Lowell now so
| can enjoy a Performing Arts Center so | can say “Yay great, more free stuff absolutely please build it”. But |
want to caution you that you are on the hook for a $4 million dollar asset and if you want to do something
extend the deadline, but don’t eliminate it. You really do need a cutoff and frankly | think it wouldn’t hurt the
fundraising to know that this has to be done by a certain amount of time or the opportunity will not exist
anymore. So rather than eliminate the deadline entirely, | would strongly urge you to amend it and provide a
longer deadline if necessary. Thank you very much.
Mike Soucy Thankyou, 3 Roseann Circle. I’m a life long resident of Nashua, 60 years as a youngster | worked
in the Parks & Recreation Department; | worked for the School Department as a substitute and a coach, |
worked for the Fire Department for 3 years: | was a Police Officer for 20 years, Fire Commissioner for four
years and a past Alderman in Ward 5. So | don’t think anybody can challenge my love for this City. Thank you
Alderman Jette for your thoughtful questions, | really appreciate it.
Here are my concerns, when this went on the ballot, | actually checked off “no” at the time because | thought
the goal was too lofty, | didn’t think we could meet that requirement. And lo and behold if we did, we wouldn't
be here today. We didn’t meet it, so now we are asking for a rule change. OK. But what happens if we don’t
meet the next goal, are we going to ask for another rule change? | mean let’s talk math. My biggest concern is
the lack of transparency; you can see it all over social media.
