Artsy smartsy: Valley communities invest in arts, culture, reap economic rewards
June 23, 2008 by chrisgraham
The Top Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Poll: Are the arts a sound economic investment for Valley communities?
Wall-to-wall people.
“Everywhere you go. Both sides of the street. Is there something else going on here tonight that we don’t know about?”
I had been appointed by my group of writer friends to check out the Downtown Staunton scene during a night on the town a couple of Saturdays ago. We’d gathered at Shenandoah Pizza for a concert featuring a friend, and after enjoying the band’s first set and some pretty good pizza, we’d decided that we wanted to see what else the Queen City had to offer us.
Try everything. There was more music up and down the street, two movie theaters with plenty in the way of coming attractions, and of course the American Shakespeare Center. It seemed to me that Staunton was printing money that night - the expression that I use to denote what I think is a good business idea being brought to prosperous fruition.
Turns out that they are printing money - pretty much on a nightly basis.
“We’ve got $2.4 million in meals taxes coming in in our next budget. Now, I’m not suggesting that’s all from downtown restaurants, but there are 17 restaurants downtown, and most of them weren’t here five years ago,” Staunton City Council member Dave Metz told me over lunch at one of those downtown restaurants, The Depot Grille, a couple of weeks back.
That time frame - five years ago - is significant. Because five years ago, the American Shakespeare Center was still in its infancy, and the Stonewall Jackson Hotel was still an eyesore two years away from the completion of a $20 million makeover.
The city contributed to both the ASC, in the form of a $500,000 loan that was eventually forgiven by city council, and the Stonewall Jackson, in the form of $10 million of general-obligation bonds that were controversial at the time they were announced in 2003, and in some quarters still are today. Metz recounted to me a conversation that he had with a voter at the polls during last month’s city elections along those lines.
“She said, I want to know if you’re going to stop spending money downtown. And I said, Well, ma’am, I don’t see that happening, because it’s generating a lot of money for the city. We put a dollar in, and get ten dollars out. So it creates money, which then takes the pressure off your house, to raise the real-estate tax rate,” Metz said.
“I’m willing to spend money anywhere if you put a dollar in and get x amount of dollars out of it. I’m always willing to spend money to make more money,” Metz said.
“We try to encourage that development, and I’m very optimistic about what we’re seeing down there,” Metz said.
The American Shakespeare Center was once controversial itself - particularly the part about the forgiven $500,000 loan. It took a while for the center to reach its forecast potential in part because of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that preceded its public opening a week later and that made it difficult for businesses across the tourism-industry spectrum to make ends meet for several years thereafter. But now the Shakespeare Center can boast of an economic impact on Staunton of $4.6 million a year, and a direct impact on local-government revenues exceeding $150,000 annually.
“People sometimes think of the arts as just something for quality of life or for creativity. But we think of it as economic development,” said Erik Curren, the marketing director at the American Shakespeare Center. “Not only do the arts create jobs and generate tax revenues, they bring in tourists, they help raise real-estate values, which helps all homeowners, and by generally contributing to prosperity in the community, the arts indirectly fund all the services that would have to be provided by local government anyway - police, fire, the schools. All those things have more money because Blackfriars and other arts organizations are in Staunton.
“It’s really clear from these numbers and what we’re hearing from downtown merchants and people at City Hall that a lot of people in Staunton see the arts as a sound investment,” Curren said.
The arts are considered a sound investment in Harrisonburg as well - to the point where the city lobbied the Virginia General Assembly for the establishment of an arts and culture economic-opportunity district that gives arts-related business access to a variety of economic incentives to locate in Downtown Harrisonburg.
“There is a clear trend showing that downtown revitalization corresponds strongly to the amount of arts and cultural activities that are present in that area. It’s common that the arts and culture come in, the artists come in, they bring energy to the space, they recreate it, and then that builds the gravity for continued growth moving forward,” said Kai Degner, the executive director of the Harrisonburg-based Arts Council of the Valley and Democratic Party nominee for one of the three open seats on Harrisonburg City Council in the upcoming Nov. 4 city elections.
The more than two dozen arts organizations that are part of the Arts Council of the Valley alone have a projected economic impact of $1.04 million annually on the Harrisonburg-Rockingham economy. With 149 arts-related businesses in Harrisonburg and Rockingham, “If we took those 149 businesses, and added up what their expenses are, and what their event attendance is, we easily have a multimillion-dollar arts industry here in our backyard,” Degner said.
My hometown, Waynesboro, has some work to do to get to where Harrisonburg and Staunton are. Where The ‘Burg has Court Square Theater and Staunton has ASC and the Stonewall Jackson, Waynesboro has as its arts and cultural centerpiece the Wayne Theatre, whose future is very much up in the air after voters ushered into office an ultraconservative city-council majority that made continued city funding for the renovation of the downtown landmark a top-shelf political issue.
“The election gave everybody a bit of a pause with relation to the arts and culture, because I’m sure that everybody understands that the new majority of council really doesn’t value the arts and culture as being a contributor to the city’s economic base,” City Councilwoman Lorie Smith said. There is potential for the development of a thriving arts and cultural community in Waynesboro in the future, Smith points out - with a renovated Wayne playing the role of catalyst and the refurbished Waynesboro Heritage Museum, the Shenandoah Valley Art Center and the Artisans Center of Virginia in major supporting roles.
“I think what we need to do as a city, and what the citizens need to do, is see a continuation of the drastic upturn in participation in arts events,” Smith said. “I’ve seen a steady increase in turnout at Third Fridays events downtown. When I go to openings at the Shenandoah Valley Art Center, I’m seeing increased participation. We’re seeing new people moving into town who are taking advantage of these events. I think this community, at this point in time, needs to demonstrate to the new majority on council that these things are important, and they’re not important just because people like to go to them, but because as you say they have an economic spin on them that’s positive for the tax base.
“The more that we can utilize the downtown for this type of usage, it will continue to complement the businesses. I really want the city and the community to stand up and say, These things are important,” Smith said.
What’s Third Fridays?
Good question, Pete. Third Fridays is a monthly event sponsored by the Waynesboro Cultural Commission, WDDI and the Wayne Theatre Alliance that features “The River City Radio Hour,” a collection of local musicians and writing and performing talent, held on a rotating basis at different downtown venues.
More information at waynesboroculture.com.
It’s good to know that some Staunton Downtown artsy businesses are thriving now. But, if I understand it correctly, the funds that buoyed most of the development in Downtown Staunton (years ago) came from the sales taxes from the ugly big businesses on 250–Wal-Mart, Lowe’s , and so on. We’ve got plenty of those businesses in Waynesboro, now. Seems like there should be money floating around.
Why can’t Waynesboro get its act together? The current leadership has NO VISION.
Unfortunately, the current leadership in Waynesboro seems to value those ugly big boxes more than it values local businesses. And it surely places no value on the arts. The ringleader of the new city-council majority thinks that Staunton should be the arts and culture town in the area, and Waynesboro should be the industrial town. Except that we’re losing our industrial base. Which then … means we have no heart anymore, I guess.
As a resident of Staunton, I remember when downtown was empty, like Waynesboro. It took time, vision and investment to get downtown Staunton to what it is today.
Waynesboro could get there with the right vision, time, investment and leaders. Unfortunately, Waynesboro has no leaders or vision on the upcoming council. So, don’t hold your breath! It’s a shame, cause downtown Waynesboro has the potential.
I’m not so sure that more development of the arts would be good for Waynesboro. The new city-council majority might have the right idea in opposing funding for restoring the Wayne Theatre.
Here’s my thinking, and I’d be pretty sure that the new city-council majority in Waynesboro would agree with me:
1. A restored and operating Wayne Theatre would create more labor for the city-council and city officers in paperwork, licensing, building permits, and other work. If more tax revenues were generated from the arts, then more difficult decision-making would have to be done to figure out what to do with these extra funds. This would create even more discord and friction within the city council.
2. With more events relating to the arts in town, it might draw more people to the downtown area after dark. An increased amount of car and pedestrian traffic, and people walking about with money in their pockets ready to spend would be a recipe for disaster. The number of car accidents, pedestrian misfortunes, and robberies might skyrocket. With increased traffic and people, more city money may have to be spent on a police presence and possibly more street lighting. Isn’t the Fall Foliage Festival once a year quite enough arts for Waynesboro?
3. More arts in Waynesboro means more artists….I think we all know what artists are like.
4. Small towns are supposed to be quiet. That’s why people enjoy living in them and prefer moving to them. If we need to see what a bustling Waynesboro looks like, we can just rent a DVD of “Evan Almighty” and watch the scenes filmed downtown showing traffic and people and cafes and things.
5. There’s a certain peaceful quality to empty storefronts. Ghost towns are popular tourist destinations, and Waynesboro might be able to draw tourists and their money by encouraging more empty and decrepit buildings, and without spending a dime on the arts. Though if too many tourists visit “The Blue Ridge Ghost Town” (my own idea for renaming Waynesboro) then we’ll have the problems elucidated in #2, above.
6. Too much activity and traffic wears down the sidewalks and pavement…more city money must be spent on repairs.
7. I believe, and I’m sure that the new majority in the Waynesboro City Council might also, that the Shenandoah Valley Art Center, the Artisans Center of Virginia and the Waynesboro Heritage Museum, are plenty of arts for the city. More arts might actually herniate Waynesboro.
So, maybe we should just let things rest…say “Whoa!” to any further development. Let’s first enter the 20th century before we race ahead to the 21st. What’s the hurry?
And don’t forget to say that when your friend finished his gig at the River City Radio Hour, last Friday, we all walked out to a darkened street, closed shops and, well, went home. Just think of the revenue those people could have provided our city. One Friday a month, then two… and who knows? It is so sad, we love our little lonely downtown, it just needs some well-guided directional assistance. Goodbye to that, hello Good Ol’ Importer Boys.
Likes It Quiet: Touche! (Love your #5 reason for not funding squat!)
“chrisgraham, on June 23rd, 2008 at 4:58 pm Said:
Good question, Pete. Third Fridays is a monthly event sponsored by the Waynesboro Cultural Commission, WDDI and the Wayne Theatre Alliance….”
Thanks for that. Funny how I consider myself well-informed however find things going on under my nose!
Much obliged I’ll have to check it out.
Pete
I think we have a bit a logic problem here when the argument is made that being against the Wayne Theater equals being against the arts as a whole.
I am very much in favor of the Arts, as someone who has created art for a living, and I am against public funding the Wayne. I am against it on its own (lack of) merits, as I think the new Council majority is.
Lorie Smith says “I’m sure that everybody understands that the new majority of council really doesn’t value the arts and culture as being a contributor to the city’s economic base.”
You can’t make this sort of generalization based on one questionable project. It’s easy to, since it’s the only one we have to go on, but that doesn’t make it right.
No one on the new Council has said that they’re against the arts generally, just the Wayne specifically.
It’s also worth pointing out that the ASC didn’t ask for public funding, simply a loan. It ended being a sort of public funding in the end, but that wasn’t what they went in for.
And bringing in the Stonewall Jackson is completely apples and oranges. That’s not arts and culture - that’s lodging and hospitality.
I daresay that a developer who wanted to do a project of that size and scope in downtown Waynesboro would get a pretty fair hearing on options from the Council.
We’ve had one project advance in the last 10 years that has any resemblance to a downtown revitalization project. The people who have done the heavy lifting on the project have donated thousands of manhours to the endeavor. They have a location in place, and well-developed plans for what that location will look like after reconstruction. They have secured substantial private funding, federal funding, state funding to make this happen. All, incidentally, from individual people and entities who obviously disagree with you that this project lacks merit. And they have cited specific reasons for saying that they think otherwise. Not some general feeling that the numbers don’t add up right, or that their gut tells them that it won’t work.
And these folks are being slapped down.
Now, you’re trying to intimate that another group of people could itself commit thousands of hours of work over the course of several years to another arts-focused economic-development project, including finding a location and coming up with plans for its development or redevelopment, obtain funding commitments from private sources, from the federal government, from the state, try to get the city on board. This would have to be a dedicated group of people, to commit its time and resources in such a way considering the history of how the Wayne Theatre Alliance has been treated in this town.
(Dedicated, or hopelessly out of touch with reality, one of the two.)
And speaking of reality, and being out of touch, I have to point out that the Stonewall Jackson Hotel is not a value to the Staunton economy as “lodging and hospitality.” Staunton taxpayers did not commit $10 million to a project to bring an overpriced Red Roof Inn to downtown. The value, as is obvious to anybody who knows even the first thing about Staunton, is in providing convention and meeting space that can be and is being used by entities locally, regionally and statewide.
It’s called culture, Alex. I know we don’t like to admit that it exists in Waynesboro, but it does outside these walls.
Chris -
No one is suggesting that the WTA is not dedicated and have not put forth an amazing effort in getting to where they are. For that matter, I’m not even debating that the Wayne Theater isn’t a worthwhile goal.
The debate is whether it’s worth public funding in the specific manner that the WTA has gone after, and further, whether declining to support that funding means that someone isn’t in favor of the arts or culture in general.
Why hasn’t the WTA come forward with other funding proposals? Have they asked for loans? Have they suggested any other sort of partnership? I’ve watched it pretty closely and it’s always been pretty much a straight ask, and when they don’t get that it’s all about how someone else is wrong.
I think another group with goals similar to the WTA could learn a number of lessons from the WTA’s experience including that maybe they need to think a little more about PR and community buy-in and a lot less about politics.
Because the people that are “slapping them down” are the majority of community members who the WTA has never managed to sell on the idea. Doesn’t seem to me they ever really tried that hard, frankly.
I surely believe that culture exists in Waynesboro and that it should be encouraged but there’s a correct way and level of encouragement from the public sector, and the WTA hasn’t found that sweet spot. Can they do it in the future? Sure - if they’re really as dedicated to it as they say.
My point about the Stonewall Jackson is that whatever it is for, it’s not aboult culture and is a red herring in this argument.
(one note to add to the last thought)
I think the WTA has actually begun to turn the corner on the community issues with things like their recent Bluegrass event. I hope they keep it up and that it’s not too little, too late.
To say the Stonewall Jackson is a red herring that is not about culture speaks to a level of lack of apprehension of the basic topic at hand here. I know that’s harsh, but I’m not the one laboring and belaboring the point.
To say that another group could learn the lessons from the WTA, on the other hand, speaks to your grasp of the point that I was raising. Namely, that you’re not going to find another group that will engage in this kind of activity here again given what the WTA has had to endure. And when I say group, you understand, of course, that I mean not just nonprofit volunteer groups, but for-profit-oriented development groups as well. To bring off a project like Riverfront Commons, for example, requires a similar investment of time (translated: “money” ) and energy (translated: “more money” ) as I explained above in the case of the WTA. I’m not speaking for the Jim Morrises of the world, but I will say that if I were that type of person, I would read the writing on the wall and take my time and energy to an elsewhere that values my time and energy.
One last thought - I know that you mean well when you say that you think the WTA has turned the corner with events like its recent bluegrass event, but honestly, if only you could realize how condescending you are coming across when you say it that way. This is a group of people who have given a helluva lot more to this community than its detractors ever will, and the thanks they get is for someone who hasn’t spent a lick of time trying to understand their project for what it actually is patting them on the head. Again, I know you mean well, but your comment here shows that you just don’t get it.
Chris -
I appreciate the insight on my potentially condescending comment, and that you realize it was not meant that way. Point taken.
“This is a group of people who have given a helluva lot more to this community than its detractors ever will, and the thanks they get is for someone who hasn’t spent a lick of time trying to understand their project for what it actually is patting them on the head.”
This statement is simply wrong in every facet.
First, let’s restate the key point that the detractors we’re talking about are not against the Wayne - they are against the specific type of public funding the WTA is seeking.
Second, to say that they haven’t contributed to the community is condescending and petty beyond words. Many of these detractors, including Frank Lucente and Bruce Allen, are among the most civic-minded citizens this town has ever seen and not supporting the Wayne doesn’t change that.
Third, I have spent a lot of time thinking about and trying to understand the Wayne Theater project, on a cultural, economic and civic level. If I don’t understand it, it further underscores the poor job the WTA has done in explaining it to the community and to people, like myself, who could have become passionate supporters.
I have a strong suspicion that for-profit groups would take an apples to apples look at the other, successful, for-profit development efforts that have happened in Waynesboro as their model, not the WTA.
Alex, I want to take you at your word that you’ve taken time to try to understand the Wayne project, but I can’t do that, because I have more respect for your insight and ability to reason than to do that.
Frank Lucente and Bruce Allen are two detractors who have given their time and energy to this town in great volume. Neither have opposed the contributions the city has given to their pet projects, though, and neither seem to understand that not having the city on board with the project puts the viability of the project itself at question.
You can’t have it both ways.