Board of Aldermen 2-06-2020 Page 20
If you add the numbers, the cost of the PAC including the $2 million acquisition of the building, it’s not $4 million
it’s $2 million, it’s $22.5 million dollars. That means $7 million dollars above the $15.5 million dollar bond; $7
million dollars in deficit building the Performing Arts Center. Then it’s $1.2 million dollars of endowment fund in
the plan, that’s why the $22.5 plus $1.2 is $23.7, that’s the number presented by ICON, the Architect. | don’t
know if you need the $1.2 million. We are very fortunate, we got Spectacle Management that have agreed to
operate this Performing Arts Center with no subsidy but the condition was to make it 750 seats. Well 750 seats
is not the same as 550 seats of the original design, the stupidity of putting it on the second floor, that’s gone.
That’s not going to come to get 750 seats.
So if you add the $1.2 million there’s another expense, there are utilities that have to be moved, utility poles,
transformers, you can’t actually electrocute people as they deliver props. There has to be better access off
Pearl Street. All that is costing $1 million to $2 million dollars. If | estimate $1 million dollars and add the $1.2
million dollars for the endowment fund that’s planned the total budget is now $24.7 million dollars. If you take
out the $1.2 million which | don’t think you need, it is still $23.5 million; that’s a far cry from the $19.5 million
dollars that is represented in the orders before you. It says $15.5 million, with $4 million dollar private funding.
You are $9.2 million dollars above the $15.5 million fund that you have; that’s the only money you have. That’s
what this Board of Aldermen authorized. That’s alot of money. What if the New Market Tax Credits don’t go
through like the lady said before, this is a good year. Ortolano, she ought to know, her husband runs a big
operation. If it doesn’t come through this year, what’s the back up plan. I’m not at all saying you ought to drop
the project.t If you drop this project, that’s another problem. You can probably sell the $2 million dollar building
although | don’t know if you are going to get $2 million dollars for it. But the other sum cost, the architect, if you
look at this sheet the architect’s fees are $1.3 million. That's spent, that design is pretty much done, that
design you see over there, it’s a very nice design. It’s not the design | wanted to tilt it in to the building as
opposed to that design, that’s OK the Committee chose that design. It’s a taller elevation and narrower.
Chairman Dowd
Mr. Teeboom, can you summarize for us?
Mr. Teeboom yes the point of it is, the $9.2 over. If you don’t get the New Market Tax Credits what is your
alternate plan? And I’m saying again you are not going to drop this project because you are going to lose $1.3
million dollars in architect fees, that’s gone and another $200,000.00 in pre-design services, so you are down
about $1.5 million. You drop this project as some people would recommend, you are out $1.5 million dollars,
plus the $2 million dollars you are stuck with. So you’ve got a lot of problems here. You have to start thinking
about Plan B. Plan B if you don’t see the New Market Tax Credits. Plan B if you don’t raise $2.5 million. And
probably the Plan B is probably the people I’m looking at. Thank you.
Gordon Jackson 59 Cheyenne Drive. | would like to thank the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen for listening to
us tonight. I'll start off by saying | am opposed to this amendment to that resolution for several reasons. You
begin your, how shall | say, you begin your argument with the assumption that this facility will in fact generate
or create an economic or an improved economic environment for the City of Nashua. So you begin with an
assumption. Now I’ve spent the last 3 or 4 days going through all of the history of our Art Center here in
Nashua and as we probably all know, it has been quite an ordeal going back. We decided where it was going
to be we have consultants, | should be in the consulting business, | could have done pretty well here. But
we’ve gone over this time and time and time again.
We were even thinking of putting it on top of the parking garages at one particular point which | thought was
pretty crazy, but nonetheless, we have suddenly come to the conclusion that this particular location is the ideal
one. Quite frankly | think that is also an assumption. One of the reasons | am opposed to it, let me clarify this, |
am not opposed to an Arts Center here in Nashua. | am all for it, like many others. | am opposed to this
particular project and inasmuch as that it doesn’t do, and | am surprised by this, that the artists of this
community seem to be for this, because it seems to totally ignore any support for the Arts in Nashua.
