The Board of Directors of River Arts has announced that it will relocate its headquarters from the Round Top campus on or about March 8th of this year. The non-profit arts center has leased the Coffin House (next to Skidompha) in downtown Damariscotta where it will conduct programming over the coming year. According to Kathleen Mack, President of River Arts Board, the arts center hopes to keep the old ice cream making building at Round Top available for print making and other activities under a cooperative arrangement with the Damariscotta River Association.
The organization’s announcement follows eight months of intensive planning beginning in May of 2007 when the current River Arts Board took over control from an interim board which had announced its intention to dissolve the organization. The interim board’s decision was based in part upon its determination that the arts center, then known as Round Top Center for the Arts, could not continue to pay the substantial costs of maintaining or upgrading Round Top’s old deteriorating buildings without a large endowment, which did not exist. In taking over management of the non-profit corporation the present Board committed itself to “…developing a financially sustainable vision for Round Top Farm that [would] combine permanent public access to the arts with greater community use of [the] riverfront campus for educational, recreational and cultural pursuits.” According to Kathleen Mack, the Board remains committed to the substance of this vision, but has reluctantly concluded that it cannot be fulfilled at Round Top Farm.
Mack gave the Lincoln County News a summary of the events leading up to her Board’s decision:
“After we took over the organization, we developed and circulated a survey so that we could assess public attitudes about the Round Top Center. Based on the survey results, we felt that there was public support for an arts center but that it was tempered with a feeling that the campus should be more welcoming for the public in general, and not just for artists, and that more performances and events should take place there. The survey results were right in line with our Board’s commitment; and we felt that the 1998 deeds by which the Round Top property was conveyed to the non-profit organization would allow combining public recreational use with an arts center. This was particularly true since the person who gave the property for use as an arts center had assigned an important role to the Damariscotta River Association in making the gift.”
“After we had assessed public attitudes, our Board and its Strategic Planning Committee studied a number of financially sustainable in and out of state art centers with a view towards developing an appropriate model for the Round Top campus. Based on our research, we adopted an “umbrella” type model, meaning that we envisioned the campus becoming the area’s primary venue for all of the performing arts and visual arts and a resource for the many area non-profits lacking suitable facilities for their operations. A major component of such a center is a performance center for theatre, music and dance. Our research indicated that the revenues from such a center would be sufficient to subsidize visual arts programs which are critically important but which have historically been financially marginal.”
“We already knew that the existing buildings at Round Top would not be suitable as the type of center we had in mind. And when we started looking into the feasibility of new construction at the campus, we were advised by a number of local banks that such a project would never qualify for any type of secured financing because of the restrictions and other provisions contained in the 1998 deeds by which the non-profit corporation acquired ownership of the campus. Our deed prohibits the center from subdividing the campus in any way and forbids putting a mortgage on any part of the property, even for a construction loan. It also provides that the DRA will get ownership of the property in the future if any of the deed restrictions are not observed. Not everyone knows that two deeds were actually involved in the original gift, the first from the donor to the DRA and the second from the DRA to the non-profit arts center. It is this second deed that contains most of the restrictions.”
“Another major problem created by these deed restrictions involves our ability to fundraise for a performance center. We have determined that potential major donors are not willing to donate large amounts of money towards the construction of a performance center where title to the property might return to the DRA in the event of non-compliance with a deed restriction.”
Mack pointed out that the River Arts Board had written to the donor and to the DRA seeking to initiate a dialogue about relaxing the deed restrictions to the extent necessary to accommodate River Arts’ plans. Mack said:
“Neither the original donor nor the DRA were willing to make any changes to the deeds. We fully understand and respect their decision, but we feel obligated to pursue our goals. Doing so requires a location where we know they can be achieved. In the meantime, the Board felt that it made no sense to continue to pay the substantial monthly expenses of maintaining the campus and its buildings now that we know we will not be able to realize our long term vision there. And we are leaving with the comfort of knowing that the campus will remain in good hands and will always be used for the conservation purposes of the DRA.”
Mack explained that the deed contained a provision that the DRA is required to use the property for its conservation purposes in the event that ownership of the property reverts to the DRA.
Mack went on to say that River Arts expects to turn the property over to the DRA on or about March 8th, but she hopes that the print shop and other activities will continue at the old ice cream making building on the Round Top campus. According to Mack, River Arts will soon be announcing new programming for the coming year at the Coffin House. At the same time, she explained that the River Arts Board has appointed a search committee to locate a suitable unrestricted site upon which to construct a performance center and visual arts facilities. Mack also said the the Board will commission a formal feasibility study to confirm the perceived need for such a center in this region of the state. She expects that the results of this study will reinforce and support the results of the Board’s work to date.
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