In Kansas City, Mo., the city built a $47 million parking garage to complement the soon-to-becompleted $413 million Kauffman Center for the
Performing Arts, financed almost entirely by private donors.

The city of Dallas agreed to an $18 million bond issuance to supplement a $354 million capital campaign to finance the AT&T Performing Arts Center that opened last fall. The campaign has raised $337 million privately over 10 years, including 133 gifts of $1 million or more.

"Here in Dallas, it would have been very difficult to make this work without a disproportionate amount of private philanthropy," said Caren Prothro, a director at the Dallas center who headed the fundraising effort. "It played a big role in influencing those who were carving out the bond package."

In Dayton, Ohio, where the demographics more closely resemble that of Rochester, a consortium of business leaders bought a vacant downtown department store for $2.75 million in 1995 and began quietly courting public officials with a vision for a performing arts center with residential and office space. By 1999, they had amassed $25 million in private pledges and had the buy-in of elected officials.

When the $121 million project opened in 2003, $49 million was paid for privately, with the remainder coming from the city, county and state.
"My advice would be to get your horses lined up early on," said Peter Horan, who oversaw the consortium. "Once the vision became public, people really got behind it."

Timing is everything

Timing is critical for large development projects. Whether the timing is favorable for the RBTL is debatable. The city owns Midtown Plaza and plans to replace it with a mix of high-end residential units and office space, anchored by new PAETEC Holding Corp. headquarters, that Mayor Robert Duffy has said would be enhanced by an arts center.

There is also synergy. The city tapped David Christa and Robert Morgan to build the residential units, and the pair has signed on to build the performing
arts center.

"We see that the RBTL is an integral part of downtown development," Christa said. The RBTL has seized on the possibility of Duffy departing for statewide office to create a sense of urgency for its pitch, threatening to reconsider locations at the former Medley Centre in Irondequoit and Brighton if public officials do not get on board with a Midtown center by September.

But how much teeth the warning has is unclear. The center plan got a tepid reception in Brighton, there are no signs of life at Medley Centre, and RBTL has about $216,000 in net assets - hardly enough for a bully pulpit.

Then there is Albany, where the state's finances are in shambles. Democratic Assemblyman David Gantt, the city's most senior and influential state legislator, was indignant when asked in a phone interview if he could support state funding for a performing arts center.

"Is this a joke or something?" Gantt said. "The state doesn't have any money, haven't you heard? I can't believe you're even asking me about this."

Financing Organization officials said they are seeking $35 million in funding budgeted for capital projects that, if it were not to go to Rochester, would go
elsewhere. Considering fiscal realities, officials said they would settle for the money over a series of budget cycles.

"Obviously, in New York state, this is not a good year to be asking for anything," said Thomas Bonadio of The Bonadio Group, whom RBTL officials
refer to as their fundraiser. Bonadio shied from the label in a phone interview, saying he only agreed to introduce RBTL to potential donors and that raising the money would be up to the organization.

"I believe (the $15.5 million goal) is doable," Bonadio said. "But it's not going to be done with $1,000-a-plate charity auctions. This is about
naming rights. If you get the right individual, or two or three, it's done."

The RBTL cites a feasibility study by an Atlanta-based firm but declined to provide a copy. The study, according to the organization, determined the RBTL would lose about $112,000 a year based on a conservative estimate of 120 performance nights annually. The organization runs about 135 nights currently and figures it could open upward of 150 nights a year in a new theater.

Auditorium Theatre, where RBTL presents most of its shows, is a converted Masonic temple with no air conditioning and few amenities for cast and crew.
John Scher, a longtime western New York concert promoter based in New York City, said shows with the best drawing power are trending toward venues of at least 3,000 seats.

"Some guilt has to be placed on the big corporations and high rollers in Rochester to make this thing happen," Scher said. "Not only do you
need their money, but you need their enthusiasm. They're trendsetters. The community looks to them."

DANDREAT@DemocratandChronicle.com

by RDDC.org