Missoula Redevelopment Agency backs performing arts center plan

A future performing arts center would fit well on the old Fox Theater grounds overlooking the Clark Fork River, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency decided Monday.

But picking a site is a long way from building a hall big enough to seat 1,450 to 1,600 people for national-caliber concerts and plays. On the other hand, it gives supporters a place for architects to contemplate and fund-raisers to tout.

By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian

http://missoulian.com/articles/2004/07/21/news/local/news05.txt

"It ushers in a whole new level of public financing to Missoula," MRA projects director Chris Behan said. "They’re looking at something that might cost $40 million bucks. They won’t be going to the local suspects for this one."

The facility could also be a showcase for local school productions, concerts and events. However, both Missoula County Public Schools District administrators and facility supporters said the school system would have no part of the operating expenses.

"Unlike anything else in the community, this would be a free-standing entertainment center," Missoula Performing Arts Facility Committee co-chairman Jim Valeo said. "It would be built solely to serve the entertainment needs of the community and the school system. It would not be a part-time movie theater. It would not be captive to the university system. We have to continue to think more broadly about what entertainment is."

The school system might contribute some of its bonding capacity to the construction effort, if the voters approve, Valeo said. And its participation in the planning and design of the facility is helpful in attracting national endowment or foundation funding that seeks out education-related projects.

While $40 million seems expensive for a building, Valeo noted that a performing arts facility has unique needs that drive up the cost. For example, the concert hall must be surrounded by special acoustics to block outside noise, and the stage itself requires construction and technology unlike almost any other kind of building.

"A building shell that didn’t have the features that this building has to have to be what it needs to be adds 25 percent to the cost right there," Valeo said. "But the last thing any of us will be party to is saddling Missoula with a white elephant."

The MRA board unanimously supported reserving a portion of what’s known as the Riverfront Triangle for 30 months to give the performing arts center advocates time to finish design work and find financing. That recommendation must be ratified by the Missoula City Council, which Behan said would probably happen in the next few weeks.

"It has its pluses and minuses," Behan said of the 30-month option. "Reserving it limits the options for marketing that land for development. On the other hand, the potential for (building a performing arts center) becomes better and better all the time."

The Riverfront Triangle is a stretch of riverbank between the Orange Street Bridge and the Montana Rail Link trestle extending north to Broadway. The city owns the parts closest to the Orange Street Bridge, while St. Patrick Hospital has two large buildings that used to house its Western Montana Clinic. There are also a couple of smaller, private parcels. The whole area has been placed in a special zoning district intended to attract a major redevelopment project.

In addition to a performing arts center, the district hopes to attract a mix of shops, offices, apartments and public spaces.

Further details about the performing arts center proposal and its business plan can be found on the Internet at the MRA’s webpage, http://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/mra/default; click the July 15 meeting agenda button on the upper right corner of the page.

Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at [email protected]