Not leaving LR, arts center says

City OKs maintenance- cost increase

The Arkansas Arts Center is committed to remaining in Little Rock now that the city has agreed to pay at least $ 700,000 a year to the center for building maintenance, an official with the center’s foundation said Tuesday.

The Little Rock Board of Directors approved the maintenance contract in an 8- 0 vote Tuesday afternoon. Two board members were absent.

The Arts Center Foundation, which owns the art collection displayed at the center, announced earlier this year that it was considering relocating to riverfront property in North Little Rock. Part of the reason was the condition of its current building and the desire to have the artwork displayed in an updated facility.

Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola began pitching ideas for where a new building could be built in Little Rock, including the possibility of expanding the current building in MacArthur Park at 501 E. Ninth St.

Little Rock owns the arts center building, and a city committee is tasked with operating the center.

“We recognize it’s a tremendous cultural asset for the city that we need to promote, and part of the way you promote it is to make sure it’s a great venue for looking at the wonderful collection that has been ac-

cumulated over many years,” Stodola said.

The agreement approved Tuesday details a commitment from the city to give the center $ 700,000 yearly for maintenance costs. It was negotiated by the city, Arts Center officials and the foundation.

“I can remember when they were giving us $ 300,000 a year, and so this is more than double,” said Bobby Tucker, chairman of the Arts Center Foundation board of trustees.

Tucker said the foundation has decided to remain in Little Rock. It’s the first time the foundation has confirmed that since its announcement that it was considering options to move.

Whether the foundation will expand the current facility or have a new one built, and how either of those options would be funded, is being researched, Tucker said.

Deferred building maintenance and a lack of sufficient financial support from the city were factors in the foundation looking to relocate, arts center Executive Director Todd Herman had said previously. The center is due for reaccreditation next year and was in threat of losing accreditation without upgrades, he said.

City records dating back to the Arts Center’s founding in 1935 state the city’s responsibility for maintaining the building. Historically, the city has allocated funding each year for that purpose.

In the past decade, city support has ranged from $ 200,000 to $ 550,000 this year. The 2015 allotment was a $ 150,000 increase from 2014 funding. Funding in 2016 under the new contract will be a 75 percent increase over the 2014 allocation.

The most the city has ever contributed was from 199598, when the payments were $ 730,000 each year because of a $ 1 million allotment for a capital expansion program that was spread over those years.

The city also has historically paid for large- scale or

emergency repairs in addition to annual maintenance contributions. It remains required to do so under the new contract.

Since 2012, the city has paid about $ 215,000 in emergency funding for a boiler replacement, roof repairs and roof replacement.

Stodola said Tuesday that he expects the city will need to pony up more funds in the near future for significant capital upgrades.

“If we cannot deal with some of the long- term capital needs that need to be addressed separate from this maintenance issue, if we fail to address those, certainly there will be a possibility they will move,” Stodola said.

Although a city commission runs the Arts Center in a city- owned building, the foundation can do whatever it wants with the art collection. If the collection is moved, the city won’t have anything to showcase at the center.

The Arts Center Foundation polled Little Rock voters earlier this year on the willingness to fund expansion or new construction for an arts center. Options included increasing sales taxes, allocating a portion of property tax millage or using funding from the city’s hospitality tax on hotels.

Herman previously told the board that the center needs to increase its vault storage and that it might be at risk of losing accreditation if it doesn’t do so. There are many other capital needs, including replacing seats in the Children’s Theater, which were installed in 1974.

“This contract will allow us to maintain the building, keep it up to standard and continue to offer our great programs,” Herman said after Tuesday’s vote. “There’s a sense of relief in the sense that we can now address some of the maintenance issues we deferred through lack of funding. It will definitely help with our 2016 accreditation.”