Board of Aldermen 12-11-2018 Page 4
PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT RELATIVE TO ITEMS EXPECTED TO BE ACTED UPON THIS
EVENING
Bob Oot | am Robert Oot | am President of Symphony New Hampshire, 9 Mendelssohn Drive, in Hollis,
New Hampshire. A lot of what | have intended to say has been said very eloquently by the Mayor.
While the symphony would not be able to use performance space for our concert series, we would
certainly be using it for many other events, including things like family concerts and the like and we are
strongly in favor of the Arts Center.
| think what Jim said is so clear, that the original intent was that no money be spent on any construction
until the $4 million dollars has been raised. Unless we really have a clear and concrete plan, it is really
harder to raise money from major donors, from corporations and the like. They need to see that we
have skin in the game, we have spent the amount of money to hire an architect to develop a concrete
plan so that they will both know that we are invested in it and they will know that they are investing in.
For those and a number of other reasons, | am strongly in favor of Resolution 18-092 and encourage
you to pass it tonight and not defer it, in a timely fashion so that we can get going. | am on the
Committee that is raising funds for this and having a plan is so important to us as we start to approach
donors. Thank you for your time.
Mary Lou Blaisdell Good evening, Mary Lou Blaisdell, 32 Webster Street, Nashua. | am here also to
encourage you to vote for the release of the funding for the Performing Arts Center. | do sit on the
Steering Committee and on the Capital Campaign. | just want to ensure the Board and the Public that
we are committed to raising the $4 million dollars. We do understand how important that is to this
project and what the commitment is that we have all agreed to. We have a great committee formed, we
are working very diligently. But on the guidance on the professionals who are working with us, we
understand that we do need, as the Mayor outlined, a lot of plans; architectural drawings to show to
potential donors what the plan is, the schematic, the design is for this building in order for them to make
a sizeable contribution to this.
So on the guidance of the professionals that are working with us, we do see what we do need and we
need a foundation to build from and we do need the funding to do that. So | do thank you for
considering this and | hope you do vote in favor of it this evening.
Rich Lannon Good evening, Rich Lannon, home address is McGrath Road in Pelham. | am the new
Chair of the Performing Arts Center Steering Committee. If | may, | don’t know if you actually received
it, it was dropped off earlier today, a letter that I'd like to read. It is relatively brief from Tracy Hall our
Executive Director of the Nashua Chamber of Commerce. So bear with me while | read this.
Dear Alderman Wilshire and Members of the Board, On behalf of the Board of Directors and hundreds
of members of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce, | am writing to express our strong support
for R-18-092 amending R-18-001 authorizing the Mayor and City Treasurer to issue bonds not to
exceed the amount of $15,500,000.00 for the Performing Arts Center located at 201 Main Street. |
regret that a previous commitment prevents me from joining you this evening expressing our strong
support in person. The Chamber was an enthusiastic supporter of the original bond resolution
introduced last year, we were active in endorsing and promoting the passage of a non-binding ballot
question last November and we carry that support through to the passage of R-18-001, however at the
time we also had concerns about the impact of the working around the $4 million endowment
requirement on the ability to raise the money in the first place. In essence, the requirement
handicapped the ability to raise funds by requiring that the funds be raised before any of the bond
money could be spent for design and design is essential for raising the funds. Few, if any donors,
regardless of how passionate they are about the project will commit significant dollars towards the
building project without being able to see what that project will look like. Amending the bond resolution
to allow for funds to be used for the design phase removes that barrier and helps ensure the success of
the project. The proposed language around the New Market Tax Credits simply clarifies that those
funds are in fact private dollars provided by companies investing in approved community development
