Fund drive for arts center begins
Ambitious effort aims to raise $26 million
Shhhhh! The Glacier Performing Arts Center is about to begin.
After five years of planning and many more years of hopes and dreams, the multi-use theater project is finally taking center stage, ready for the performance that will determine its future.
The center kicks off its main capital campaign this week, seeking to raise the bulk of the $26 million needed to build and endow the 51,000-square-foot facility.
"To be successful, we will need a cooperative effort among year-round residents, seasonal residents and visitors to the area," Glacier Performing Arts Center board president Jean Hagan said in a letter to potential donors. "With many working together, we'll be able to build and operate a center that will be a focal point for immense enjoyment, learning and exchange of ideas.
"We hope you'll join us in making the proposed performing arts center a reality."
This opening act in the fund-raising campaign is the time for lead donors to step forward and put their stamp on the project, ensuring that it gets off to a successful start.
They will have the opportunity to acquire naming rights for the center itself, as well as its major components.
A $7 million contribution gives a donor the right to name the entire facility.
For $5 million, someone can name the main performance hall. A $4 million contribution lets a donor brand the smaller performance hall, while three million-dollar donors will get naming rights for the reception area and other main public spaces.
Together, these legacy gifts will raise $19 million - enough to pay for the building.
Given a successful conclusion to this initial funding effort, the performing arts center board will move on to a major gift campaign, during which donations of $10,000 to $500,000 will be sought. That in turn would be followed by a public campaign for those able to donate $25 to $10,000.
The latter two campaigns together would raise $6 million for a permanent endowment, plus an additional $1 million to cover the first year's operating costs and programming.
The project will be built on three acres just north of Kalispell Center Mall on property donated three weeks ago by Red Lion Hotels and its partner, GVD Commercial Properties.
The donation was contingent upon construction beginning by April 2007.
Drawings of the proposed center show an attractive glass-and-brick building with a garden and attached, 80-foot-tall "fly tower," which would be used to raise and change scenery and backdrops for the different performances.
The center features a main, 1,300-seat performance hall that would be built in the traditional European style, with a relatively narrow width plus balcony and box seating along the sidewall.
The facility also has an extensive lobby/reception area, off-stage storage and dressing areas, and a smaller "black-box" theater with room for 250 to 300 people.
The business plan for the center indicates that it would be used for a wide variety of arts and entertainment events, including traveling Broadway-style shows, plays and musicals, concerts, dance performances, readings, guest speakers and lectures.
A 2002 feasibility study concluded that the center could expect an annual attendance of about 28,400 at different events. That's just counting local residents; it doesn't include tourists, seasonal residents, conventions or other groups.
The facility would operate primarily on a space-for-hire basis. Entertainment firms and community groups would rent the center, book shows and take the risk. Wedding parties and other private groups could also could rent space for various events.
The intent is to have the center built and ready to open by fall 2009.
A new Web site, www.glacierperformingartscenter.org, has more information about the center and contact information for interested donors.
Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com